“Best… Halloween… Party… EVER!” Pinkie Pie shouted with an explosion of sugar sprinkle confetti as she raised her head from the water-filled barrel with her prize, a candied apple fresh from Sweet Apple Acres in her teeth, the entire Canterlot High campus spookily decorated and given over to the school party… and now packed with the students and staff from both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep.

“Yep! I gotta admit, this was a really good idea on the part of Principal Cadance,” Sunset granted, looking around at the mingling student bodies and all the activity booths, food stands and games she saw, all being greatly enjoyed. “I think this is the most fun the two schools have ever had together!” Well, short of what happened at the end of the Friendship Games… she felt compelled to amend her statement with a glance down at Twilight, who was working on some electronics before her.

“You said it!” Applejack agreed. The Halloween party was a joint affair, held following a yearly football game between the two schools. It had been a hard-fought match but had ended in a narrow 28-24 victory for the Shadowbolts squad that earned both teams cheers and mutual respect.

Yeah, we lost, but Ah reckon we made a really good game of it this time. If nothing else, it beats the heck outta always being thumped by fifty points like before! Applejack thought as she restocked the apple-bobbing barrel along with her big brother, dressed as she was in an orange afro over a white headband and green zip-up jacket, a pair of binoculars around her neck as well as a camera; her part of the costume theme the Rainbooms had selected. “Reckon Ah wasn’t sure about it at first, but bringing Canterlot and Crystal Prep together for a Halloween party postgame was a great idea!” she said in satisfaction. “Don’t’cha think so, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh agreed, complimenting her sister’s attire by wearing a detective’s overcoat with an uncinched brown tie and a small bandage on one cheek, a mock police badge hanging out of a pocket. “Gotta say, so was the band-versus-band costume contest you and Dash thought up! Reckon you also came up with a real winner for a theme there, sis,” he said, motioning down to his own costume.

“Thanks, ‘Scruffy’,” she teased. This time, the various competitions were only for bragging rights and a few gift certificates, though they weren’t restricted to the students. Aside from the costume contests and party games, the staff from the two schools had also gotten into the competitive spirit as well. Joint dance DJs Vinyl Scratch and Lemon Zest were currently hosting a rather surprising rap battle between Ms. Zecora, the popular Canterlot High chemistry teacher and Iron Will, the feared gym instructor and head football coach of Crystal Prep. Cheers were going up from both groups of students as their respective instructors took turns roasting each other and their institution with rhythm and rhyme, though it was all in good fun and neither resorted to any insults or lyrics that were obscene or particularly mean-spirited.

“But full disclosure—it was actually Twi’s suggestion, and most of the costumes came from Rarity,” Applejack admitted, admiring her older brother who, true to form, was pitching in and helping out at his old high school without any hesitation. Unassuming but dependable and never asks much back in return… she felt a moment of warmth as she admired his costume, one he had selected and put together himself once he’d heard their choice of costume theme. And of course he chooses the character most like him… ‘cept Ah reckon he’s more than a mite smarter! “And gotta hand it to ya, Rares—ya did a bang-up job, too!” she added with a nod to her friend at her right.

Rarity all but preened. “My pleasure, darling!” she said, looking very dapper in her burgundy skirt and dress jacket that contrasted nicely with her black vest and nylons with high heels and frilly white cravat, her hair dyed silver for the occasion. Though she’d originally meant to emulate a certain whip-wielding prosecutor in the games they had drawn their inspiration from, she had changed her mind at the last minute and elected to dress up as her favorite character of the series instead, even if it required her to come up with a gender-swapped version of him. “I’m quite pleased at the results given this was a truly challenging theme…”

“I still think my idea would’ve been better—but that’s okay. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages!” Pinkie announced as she crunched loudly and happily into the apple’s hard candy shell, careful not to drip water or crumbs on her purple-and-cream kimono with dark red sash, her ensemble completed by a necklace of large pearl-like orbs at the bottom of which was a comma-shaped gemstone she’d fashioned from glass. She’d chosen the character ‘for how fun!’ she was instead of the one clown of the series, whom she’d said before was ‘totally unfunny and totally not me!’

“Pinkie, we ain’t gonna dress up for a school Halloween party as Coital Convent characters!” Applejack said as she picked up the entire barrel to find an apple that had rolled away, causing some of the Crystal Prep students to take a step back in surprise. “I mean, seriously?”

“Yes, seriously! We could totally pull it off! I mean, both we and the Shadowbolts have got the right equipment now and everything!” Pinkie replied, her words immediately attracting the attention of three of the latter, who were standing at the next booth over, which had cornhole boards set up.

“Coital Convent? Wow. That is like the worst idea ever,” said Sugarcoat as she walked over with Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap, the three dressed as Power People characters, the latter of whom ignored Pinkie’s suggestion to immediately challenge Rainbow to an arm-wrestling contest in her Zapp costume over a spare barrel.

“Oh, definitely! I’d like nothing better than to dress up as nuns who get turned by an all-powerful demon into stallion-cocked sexual playthings!” Sour Sweet sneered from under her Saddle Rager costume, only to suddenly blush and shift uncomfortably. “Unless it’s Midnight doing it…” she added quietly with a longing look at Twilight, who cringed.

“No! No, really! I really think I’m onto something here!” Pinkie continued to insist. “There’s enough roles in there for all of us from both schools! Applejack, you could have been demon steed Layal, Rainbow the Sister Superior and Sunset could be the Demon King… no offense, Sunset.”

“None taken,” Sunset responded automatically with a chuckle, content to just stand back and take in the Halloween scene, Twilight at her side as she continued to tinker with the final part of her friend’s costume. Most of the students had gathered on the school steps to have their pictures taken in costume together… both for mementos and so they could be judged as to who had the best Halloween attire by the three principals, who gotten into the spirit of the day by dressing up as well. “It’s good to see you girls again. Twilight told us all about what happened with Chrysalis before she left…” she told the two Crystal Prep students, causing the pair to blush and exchange a slightly furtive look.

“And we heard what happened with you guys at Camp Everfree, gaining superpowers and all,” Sour Sweet quickly changed the subject with a slightly forced smile that quickly turned into a frown. “Not that I’m jealous or anything…” she crossed her arms and growled under her breath, eyeing the small stone pendants around their necks.

“Well, ya’ll beat us in football—again—so reckon ya’ll got braggin’ rights fer tonight,” Applejack said, tossing them candied apples right out of the barrel, the crisp shells done up in flavored rainbow swirls. “But the costume contest is another matter! Nice Power People, by the way!”

“Thanks! You guys look good too. Perfect costume choice. For total dorks…” Sour Sweet couldn’t quite keep herself from saying as she bit into her apple.

“You’re just jealous, darling…” an unruffled Rarity said as she modeled her prosecutor’s suit. They’d gotten well enough used to the personality quirks of their Crystal Prep counterparts by then—and vice-versa. “Though in fairness, I think our respective Principals should enter the contest as well…” she said with a nod to the stairs where the judging was taking place.

“Yeah, maybe,” Sour Sweet granted. Principals Celestia and Luna had done themselves up in surprisingly convincing fashion as the legendary but long-vanished heavy metal rock rivals Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon, while Cadance had dressed more conventionally as a particularly glittery princess. To their surprise, Dean Sombra was also in attendance from Everfree University acting as an honorary judge, costumed as an evil king in dark robes and makeup, wanting to see the new spirit of cooperation between the two schools as well as what Cadance had done with his former academy since the days of Principals Cinch... and Chrysalis.

“So where’s this other Twilight we keep hearing about?” Sugarcoat looked back and forth. “The pony one who’s a princess or something in her world?”

“Unavailable, apparently. And quite the shame for it,” Rarity sighed as she sipped her own cup of punch. “Don’t you agree, Twilight?”

Twilight tensed, her efforts on the electronics in front of her faltering for a moment. “Uh, well… no offense to her or any of you guys, but… I’m really not that comfortable around her.”

“Really? Why not?” Spike asked from where he sat in Fluttershy’s lap, dressed somewhat oddly as a parrot while Fluttershy wore a very similar costume to Pinkie’s except for the color, sporting a more pinkish kimono and purple sash. “I think she’s really nice! And I enjoy being with that world’s Spike a lot, too! We swap stories and play games! I show him how to be a dog and he tells me all about being a dragon! He’s teaching me to play Ogres and Oubliettes, and I’d love to cross over just so I can eat gems and breathe fire like he can! He says sapphires are particularly delicious...” He turned wistful as Fluttershy patted his head.

“How can I put it…?” Twilight looked unhappy at the turn the conversation had taken even as she continued to tinker, holding multiple implements in her magic. “It’s just that… well…”

“It’s just that it’s really weird and creepy finding this alternate version of you that’s not only a pony but a master mage and princess who can do all sorts of things you can’t and worse, didn’t let magic turn her into an all-powerful sex fiend right out of the perviest hentai imaginable that fed me a stallion cock, turned Indigo and Sunny along with Sour Sweet into raging futa lesbos, and converted the entire school into your private sexual playpen,” Sugarcoat finished for her in perfect deadpan, causing Twilight to blush hard and the entire mixed audience to fall silent and stare. “What? It’s true!”

“That doesn’t mean you have to say it!” Sour Sweet cuffed her lightly from behind as Rainbow and Indigo’s arm-wrestling contest ended to little surprise in a draw. “Even if it’s true and now I am…” she found herself appraising Applejack at that moment, earning a smirk from Indigo when the athletic Shadowbolt saw where her classmate’s eyes went.

“What… Sugarcoat… said…” Twilight admitted somewhat wanly, having more or less come to terms with it but was still reminded instantly of why she’d finally had to leave Crystal Prep. “Uh… thanks?”

“Anytime. And if you’re going to spike the punch, Pinkie Pie, it needs more cinnamon whiskey,” an unrepentant Sugarcoat noted as she sampled the drink in the bowl that was set on a table by the bobbing barrel.

“More? Got it!” Pinkie Pie immediately slipped the contents of another flask in, then offered the blunt-spoken Shadowbolt another drink. “How’s that?”

“Perfect,” she pronounced after another sip, then tossed back the rest of her plastic cup in a single swig and found herself glancing with a momentary blush at the still-unrepaired ruins of the Wondercolts statue.

“Yes, well…” Rarity decided the topic was best changed, hoping no teachers were walking by. “I can understand your reluctance, Twilight, even if I would love to meet my own counterpart! Think of the fashion collaborations we could have! It is a pity, though, about the Princess. I was so looking forward to hearing the latest from her of the pony realm!”

“Is that so, ‘Myla?’ Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk, using the name she’d come up with for the gender-swapped version of her friend’s character. The athletic speedster was also dressed in business attire, sporting red slacks and vest over a white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves that revealed a single thick bracelet on her left wrist, her hair remaining its original colors but styled into two forward spikes. “I think you just wanna get it on with all the dragons over there again!” Rainbow got into character by pointing in dramatic fashion at her friend.

“‘Polly’ wanna cracker, darling? Or just the griffon version of Gilda like before?” Rarity riposted, causing Rainbow to mildly fume as chuckles were heard. “I must say, I thought we were surefire winners of the costume contest until now. But there is truly some stiff competition about!”

“Oh, come on. With these get-ups, we’re a shoo-in for the best band costume theme!” Rainbow boasted, cinching up her tie a little tighter with the hand that had a bracelet on it, her tomboyish looks matching the character she played surprisingly well.

“I don’t know…” Sunset finally spoke up, downing a fresh glass of punch, a slight swaying and rosiness of her cheeks indicating she’d had more than one by then. “We look good, yeah, but have you seen the costumes of Trixie’s band? They really went all out, too,” she noted as Twilight wrapped up her work and gave Sunset the final piece of her own costume, a small medallion on a chain which she put around her neck. “They could win.”

“I like Trixie in her costume.” The medallion suddenly spoke up in a synthesized voice through a pixelated smiley face, causing its wearer to eep! and clamp both hands over it, to the laughter of all her friends. “You know, I think you did a little too good a job on Widget here, Twilight…” she said, having completed the group theme by wearing a short yellow jacket over an untucked white blouse with a loose blue tie and her hair restyled and tied off a blue bow, a black glove worn on her right hand only.

“Well, making a pocketwatch-sized computer that recognized and expressed the innermost thoughts and emotions of its wearer was quite a challenge… but I couldn’t be more pleased with the result!” Twilight giggled herself, wearing the blue business suit, vest, and red tie of the gender-swapped version of her own favorite character in the series, her hair styled to be backswept and pointy if still in her usual colors. She immediately moved on to using her magic to control her selfie drone while Spike played with his robot companion.

“So you really like Trixie, eh, ‘Athena’?” Rainbow nudged Sunset and gave her a teasing grin.

Sunset’s cheeks instantly went a deeper hue. “Wha? NO! What makes you think that I…”

“She helped me save your memories and she’s really cute in that outfit,” the faux Widgit confirmed unbidden, causing a mortified Sunset to bury her head in her hands as all her Canterlot and Crystal Prep friends burst out in laughter, pausing long enough only for Twilight’s selfie drone to take a picture of them all.

It was at that moment Flash Sentry and his band came up, having just been presented to and judged by the school heads; by the cheers of both sides their costumes had been well-received. Trixie’s group was up next, and the cheers that greeted their costumes were even more raucous, as the four members of her band were dressed in outfits that ranged from Little Red Riding Hood attire that included a large scythe to Trixie herself wearing an ice-themed outfit that matched her frosted hair. She was dressed in a winter-hued short skirt and blouse punctuated by a few black and red highlights with her ensemble completed by a very stylized rapier she’d clearly spent a great deal of time and effort on.

“Hey, Flash… nice costume! Since we were just talkin’ about her, don’t suppose you’ve heard anything from Princess Twi? She gonna be crossin’ over again anytime soon?” Applejack asked, offering them all apples. His entire band was emulating a popular animated series superhero team consisting of various sidekicks, and given his name, he’d fittingly chosen the role of the group speedster, wearing a yellow uniform with red lightning bolt and tights. Other members of his band wore a simple black shirt with a stylized S on it and another wore a skintight sleeveless red-and-black shirt with blonde-dyed hair, marker-drawn tattoos on his arms and cardboard replicas of weapons on his back.

He went downcast. “Nah. She said she couldn’t come for a few weeks ‘cause she had some royal duties and had to be master of ceremonies or whatever for their ‘Nightmare Night’,” he confirmed, accepting an apple and biting into it loudly. “But to make it up, she promised she’d come over for Thanksgiving, since that’s not a holiday they have over there. I’m gonna treat her to a traditional dinner—she says she’s okay with eating birds, just not cows, before you ask; I swear she wants rotisserie chicken for every meal now—by taking her home to meet my parents!” he announced to ooos and friendly ribbing from his bandmates. “And after that, fair’s fair—with her ruler’s permission, I’m gonna be taken through the portal over Christmas—or excuse me, ‘Hearth’s Warming’—to meet hers,” he announced with a slightly waner smile.

“My! Then things are definitely getting serious!” a delighted Rarity noted, her expression turning giddy. “Crossing the portal to meet her mother and father? That seems quite promising, indeed!”

“Oh, I’m so happy for you, Flash,” Fluttershy went up and offered him a hug though Spike’s only reaction was to open his mouth and stick his tongue out and then point a digit of his paw down his throat, the action promptly duplicated by his robot companion.

“Me too!” Rainbow confirmed, zipping up to give Flash an affectionate noogie. “Treat her well, stud!”

“And be sure and tell us all about it afterwards!” Pinkie surprised him with an affectionate kiss and triggered some of her confetti fireworks as she did so. “And that reminds me; I still need to throw you guys a hook-up party soon!”

“I’m happy for you both,” Sunset bowed her head. “But also a bit jealous,” Widget added through a frowny face, causing Sunset to cringe and hurriedly hit the mute button as everyone laughed again.

A chuckling Flash had at least enough sense not to ask who she was jealous of—him or Twilight. “Yeah, and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for it. It’s just… well, just how am I supposed to feel about becoming a pony and then meeting her parents?” he asked them all in perfect earnestness. “Seriously, for as much anxiety as it’s giving me, I’d just about rather end up tossed in a dumpster again…”

Twilight winced as all eyes instantly turned on her. “Flash, I really can’t say enough how sorry I am about that...”

“It’s okay, really,” he waved her off, then rubbed a hand behind his head. “That wasn’t her. And as Midnight, that wasn’t really you either…” he chuckled. “That’s what I get for not listening and thinking I alone can make things better.” His mood abruptly dropped, making Twilight feel even worse.

“Come on, Flash, yer a good guy. You don’t think the Princess sees that?” Applejack clapped him on the back hard enough to make him cough and wheeze. “Oops! Sorry ‘bout that. Ah reckon sometimes Ah ferget mah own strength…”

“Rub it in, why don’t you…” Sour Sweet groused.

Applejack ignored her. “Look, she really likes you, Flash. Heck, we all do.”

“You’re a sweet guy, Flash. I never lied about that,” Sunset added. Though I did take advantage of it… She slumped slightly at the memory.

“A good guitar player can always get girls,” Fluttershy noted, patting his hand with her own. “And you’re one of the best in school.”

“Even if that means I’m just a ‘gullible guitar head’?” he asked with a wan glance at Twilight, who facepalmed at yet another reminder of what she had once become.

“Dude!” Indigo and Rainbow hissed at him at once, but Twilight had already heard.

“I take it all back…” she told him with a wan smile of her own, sometimes regretting having her memory of what she did the first time she transformed into Midnight fully restored. “I’m not gonna lie, Flash—you’re not my type, but… that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re a good guy or don’t have a lot to offer.”

“True. From what I can tell, you’re a total doofus but a sweet and well-meaning one,” Sugarcoat confirmed, studying him closely. “Some girls really go for that, you know.”

“Oh yeah? Like who?” a dubious Flash challenged.

“This other Twilight, for one. And for another...?” She walked up to him and yanked him down to her by a handful of his costume. “Me,” she announced as she kissed him deeply to the startled whistles and applause of all present.

Author's Note

Surprise, folks! This was an example of a chapter that simply wanted to be written and wouldn’t let have a moment’s peace until I did so. I had planned to have a shorter Earthside section to open a chapter, but as this got longer I decided it worked better a standalone interlude; a momentary respite from all the insanity on the Equestrian side of the portal before we resume our story there. Guess I also wanted to do something nice for Flash given how badly I dumped on him in Midnight Rising. And don’t worry--this will not be our only visit to Canterlot, as there’s a reason Sunset Shimmer is tagged in this story! If nothing else, Eclipse is certainly planning to come across the portal at some point to extend her new empire to Earth...

But that’s in the future. Hope you enjoyed seeing our Shadowbolt friends again and picked up on not only the various costume choices, which I think are very apropos given my other stories--full disclosure; the inspiration for Sunset-as-Athena actually came from one of RoboRed’s avatars!--but some hints I dropped as to what happened in the aftermath of Midnight Rising! You may recall I promised a Crystal High-based sequel involving Chrysalis, and in terms of this story, it’s already happened. Be assured I still plan to write it eventually!

Thanks as always to my prereading crew of AJ_Aficionado, Silentwoodfire and Leo Archon. Denim_Blue is not on the list this time only because I decided to push it out before he could take a look but I’ll still incorporate his recommendations later!