Deep within friendship castle, there was a room. It was dimly lit, yet the mirror clearly reflected a small earth pony filly, yet she looked… wrong. Green eyes, framed by bloodied, brown fur and a lifeless, grey mane. More blood ran from her yellowed, horrible teeth, ready to tear at another pony’s flesh-
A gasp came from her, and she jerked back, blinking rapidly. Her hoof almost dropped the contact lense she’d been trying to put in her eye. She stomped angrily but brought herself to calm. “Don’t worry, Shetland,” she told herself. “Eleventh time’s the charm.” She raised the lense again as she pulled on her eyelid with the other hoof. This time it’d work, this time- yet as it drew closer, Shetland had to fight the urge to back off, the hoof growing until it blocked out everything else, except for the lense. She braced herself, her eye getting watery. She’d do it this time! She jerked back as the lense touched her eyeball, pressing her eye closed. She frantically searched with the other, but it had been flung away. She’d lost it!
“GAAAH!” She screamed, pounding the ground with all four hooves. Which hurt now! “STUPID LENSES! WHY CAN’T I JUST PUT THEM IN??”
“Who?” a voice came from the door.
“ME!” She shouted, turning around, but as she saw who had just entered through the open door, she reined in her anger. “Sorry, Owlowiscious, but these stupid lenses…” She huffed, throwing another look in the room. It was definitely gone. She let out a sigh. “Now my costume is ruined!”
The bird cocked it’s head, flying over to Shetland and perching in her mane. She winced as his claws tore into her hair, but nonetheless she had to giggle. “Careful, I colored it.” She warned the bird. Owlowiscious hooted, further destroying any resemblance Shetland’s scalp had to a “manestyle.” She simply giggled, figuring it would only help her costume.
She walked over to the door, careful not to disrupt her avian “guest,” as she stood on her hindlegs to reach the lightswitch. The sudden light jabbed at her eyes, but they quickly adjusted to it.
“Shetty?” A voice called, this time certainly from a pony. “I heard shouting.”
“I’m okay, mom.” Shetland said. “Just a problem with my costume.”
A crack resounded through the room and a second later, Twilight Sparkle stood there, her mighty alicorn body suddenly making it feel small. “We’re already cutting it close, Shetty.” She told her, fidgeting on her hooves. “Maybe if I help you-” But her offer was cut short as Shetland burst out in laughter.
“W-What are you supposed to be?” She managed between giggles.
Twilight’s expression fell flat. “What do you- oh, yes.” She sighed, ruffling her wings in annoyance. Her brown wings, full of white and black spots. Her neck seemed to be plastered with fluffy feathers and her normally-lavender pupils were replaced by comically large black circles. But the crown jewel to top it all off was the little cardboard beak strapped to her muzzle.
“Y-you look like a chicken!” Shetland laughed.
“I’m Owlowiscious!” Twilight retorted, raising her head in an attempt to fix her broken dignity, yet she couldn’t stop from blushing.
“Who?”
“Owlow-” Twilight started before she stopped herself with a facehoof. “Very funny, Owlowiscious.” Despite her embarrassment, a smile broke out on her face and she chuckled. A pocket in her bag opened and she floated a bit of seed to the bird, who happily hooted.
“Mom?” Shetland asked, furrowing her brows as several seeds fell in her hair. “How many Owlowisciouses have you had by now?”
Twilight’s face fell. “I… think he’s the thirty-first.”
Shetland reached up to pet his feathers. “And he’ll be around for a while.”
“Mhm.” Twilight agreed, though she still didn’t smile. “Though he’s eleven and you’re-”
“Nine, I know.” Shetland grumbled.
The alicorn rolled her eyes. “You’ll grow up in time. I just want you to know that he might not be here for… your whole life.”
“MOM, not on Nightmare Night.” Shetland moaned. Twilight’s head shot up.
“Right, you needed help!” She exclaimed. “What exactly was the problem?”
“Well…” Shetland rubbed her foreleg, lowering her head to hide her blush. “I-I couldn’t put in the contact lenses…”
“That’s an easy fix.” Twilight smiled, levitating one up.
“Aaand I also kinda messed up the scar makeup-”
“Shouldn’t be too-”
“And also the fake blood.”
Twilight let out a huge sigh. “A complete makeover, then? Well, we’ll definitely be late…”
“Sorry, mom.” Shetland blushed. “It’s just so hard with only hooves.” She glared at them, then looked up to her mother’s horn. “It’s so easy for you.”
“It’s okay, Shetty.” Twilight mumbled, her eyes focused on her daughter’s barren forehead. “So, what is your costume anyway?”
Shetland huffed. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m a zombie!” She rolled her eyes and glared at the ground. Slowly, her underlip pushed forward in a sad pout. “Did I put it on that badly?”
“No, it’s fine,” Twilight assured her. “I’ll just give it a once-over and your friends will scream in terror when they see you.”
That made Shetland chuckle. “They better!” she exclaimed and bumped her hoof in the air.
The meeting spot was basked in the glow of a flickering lantern. Ponies stood shoulder to shoulder, some impatiently waiting, some casting worried looks out into the night. They seemed small, but all foals were small compared to Shetland, who stood above any of them by at least five inches. Which made it easy for her to seek out a small changeling filly secluded from the rest, sitting just barely inside the lanterns light.
“Hi, Ciloa.” Shetland greeted her. With a gasp, the changeling spun around and she slammed a hoof on her own mouth to suppress a startled scream. Shetland rolled her eyes. “It’s just me, Cily.”
“Ah, you’re finally here.” The loud voice came not from the changeling, but from a colt on the other side. A unicorn with golden mane, covered by an enormous wizard hat, shot a glare at Shetland. “We would have started without you, if you weren’t the princess’s kid.”
“Screw you, Abraxis.” Shetland snapped back. “I’m not going with any group with you in it, anyway.”
“And I wouldn’t go with you, barehead.” He retorted. “But my friends,” he nodded to the two unicorns on either side of him, both dressed as old Hiroshimarean robots. “They insisted we let you participate.”
“Participate in what?”
“A little bet.” He grinned. “Whoever gets the most candy wins.”
She scoffed. “What’re the stakes?”
He tapped his chin before returning a smug grin. “If we win, we each get a day where we can make you do all our chores we don’t want to. And if you win... hmmm…”
“If I win, you can’t use magic for a month.” Shetland grinned. “AND you have to help Cily’s mom out with her garden. Without magic.”
Abraxis’s face went pale, but he grit his teeth and stretched out a hoof. “Deal.”
“Deal.” Shetland said, bumping his hoof.
Suddenly, he broke into laughter. “Good luck, Flatland!” His hoof poked at his horn. “Try winning all by yourself, we’re gonna win for sure!”
Shetland’s jaw dropped as Abraxis’s friends bumped his shoulders. “That’s not fair, you didn’t say it was a team game!”
He simply stuck out his tongue. “Too late to back out now.”
“It’s not fair!” She stomped the ground, drilling her eyes into his ugly smirking face.
But he felt too safe with his friends to be intimidated. “Just get your own team, you’re big enough to count for two anyway, though the only one left would be…”
Shetland followed his hoof. Somehow she wasn’t surprised that it was pointing at Ciloa. Abraxis chuckled. “But I doubt she’ll be much help.”
That was enough. Shetland spun around, slapping his hoof out of the way. “You’re on.” She said darkly. “And don’t you start crying when I stomp your face in the ground!” Something tapped softly against her shoulder, looking worriedly at her. With a deep sigh, Shetland met the unicorn’s eyes once more. “At candy collecting.” She finished.
“Alright, bet’s over at 1 am, just before sacrificial giftings. Don’t be late or it doesn’t count.”
“You’ll eat your own words.” Shetland grumbled and watched as they took off. Only then did she realize that she and Ciloa were the only ones left around the lantern. She turned to Ciloa, facing her with a look of steely determination. “Let’s go, quickly!” She grinned. “And beat their faces in. by collecting candy!
“O-okay.” Came the quiet, and quite unenthusiastic response. Shetland sighed, feeling a bit of her patience drain. She looked at Ciloa, the small changeling with her insectoid wings… in pink. And… feelers-
“What are you supposed to be?”
She bit her lip. “A-a butterfly.”
“Ciloaaaaa.” Shetland groaned. “You’re supposed to dress up as something scary!”
“Sorry…”
“It’s alright…” Shetland took a deep breath and released it like her mom had shown her. Yet it wasn’t very effective when she knew that she was already losing time. “Let’s just get going, okay?”
With a nod, Ciloa followed at a brisk place, to keep up with her friend’s longer strides.
Despite it being night, the streets were comfortably bright, illuminated by pumpkins, lanterns and electrical lights. A few adult ponies gathered around games to play, like applebobbing, spider catapults or knock-the-robot. But mostly, there were foals everywhere! You could almost forget just how many children lived in Ponyville until Nightmare Night, which was when they all came from their hiding places. There did not seem to be a street without at least one group of them, disguised as witches, dragons, sphinxes and robots. So many robots, from actual metallic helmets and glowing eyes to makeshift cardboard “machines.” Shetland shook her head, she had never understood why ponies feared them. They were nice!
Ciloa seemed to be a little queasy about the whole thing. She’d always been a little shy, and she seemed nervous at the idea of knocking on random doors. Shetland fought her own sense of annoyance, because she knew she’d lose time because of what she was about to do. “Hey, Cily, how about we start with your mom? Get a little dry run in- and she’ll probably give us a ton.”
The changeling filly smiled as she nodded vigorously, which almost made it worth it. Almost. Luckily it was a short way to the fancy building, looking like a mix of a tent and a tower, with big glass panel windows. Shetland’s mother always called it “Carousel Boutique,” though she wasn’t sure what part of it resembled a carousel and it certainly hadn’t been a boutique in a long time. A large pumpkin sat on the doorstep, shining from within with an eerie green light. Shetland raised a hoof and knocked. “Dry-run, Ciloa.” She whispered as she stepped back from the door and it swung open. She took a deep breath.
“Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite.
If you don’t, you’lll be scared, and we’ll get you unprepared.”
The changeling in the doorway chuckled. “Well, aren’t you an eager one.” She raised her eyebrow at Ciloa. “Though, deary, isn’t it a little strange to come to your own door for Nightmare Night?”
“She didn’t, I did!” Shetland intoned before Ciloa could get embarrassed. She held her bag open expectantly.
“Well, I guess I won’t be a buzzkill,” the mare chuckled, levitating a bar of chocolate into both their bags. “Now have a fun Night-”
“THANKYOU!” Shetland interrupted her, grabbing Ciloa’s hoof and pulling her to the next door.
“Okay.” She mumbled. “Now you know how it goes, now we have to speed things up, understand?”
“Mhm.” Ciloa nodded weakly, her fake antennae bobbing onto her muzzle. “Can we play games later, too?”
“After we’ve won.” Shetland got up on her hindlegs, trying to find the most efficient route. “A map would be nice right now.”
“Can you read maps?”
“Mom taught me how to, but we don't have one.” She stomped the ground with steely determination. “So we just have to be extra extra fast!” And with that, she took off, forcing Ciloa to fly to keep pace.
But for their brisk pace, the payoff was a bit disappointing.
“Oh, what a cute costume.” One mare grinned at Ciloa, giving the smiling filly an extra bonbon.
“At least you do not fashion the guise of my kind as an attempt to elicit feelings of fright.” A robot at another door mumbled. He then meticulously broke the ribs of a chocolate bar into exactly equal sizes while Shetland nervously pranced around, waiting for him to finish. Why couldn’t he just give her more anyway? She was bigger!
But then at the next door, she saw something that made her grit her teeth. The mare at the door was reaching deep into her bowl and, balancing on her hind legs, Shetland could see it was almost empty! It dawned on her that she was already running out of time. She glanced into her bag. It wasn’t even half full…
“We have to go faster.” She whispered. “Get to every house before they run out.”
Ciloa gasped. “W-what?” She took a greedy breath and Shetland suddenly noticed how sweaty she was. She wiped her forehead. “I wanna go slower, Shetty!”
Shetland flicked her ear, considering for a second to simply ignore her objection. “We can’t go slower, Cily, we’re gonna lose!” She glared at her, hoping she’d just back off. Frustratingly though, Ciloa met her eyes.
“I-I just need a small break, okay?”
Urgh! Shetland resisted the urge to shout. “Alright,” she hissed. “We’ll go slow for a few minutes, but then we go all out till the end!” Not willing to wait for a response, she knocked on the nearest door, expectantly raising her candy bag.
The door opened for a mint colored unicorn, wearing an apologetic smile. “Oh, hello, kids.” She said, rubbing her foreleg.
“NIGHTMARE NIGHT!” Ciloa intoned with a grin. “Give us something sweet to bite.”
The mare looked down at her sadly. “I’m sorry, dear, but I’m all out. I think everypony on this street is, actually.”
Shetland groaned and turned to leave, but stopped as she noticed Ciloa did not follow.
“So… you don’t have any candy for yourself?” Ciloa asked with concern. Furrowing her brow in confusion, Shetland turned back to her friend
“Oh, it’s nothing, dear, I just should’ve gotten more, or been less generous to the first visitors.”
“Uh-uh.” Shaking her head, Ciloa levitated a candybar from her bag. “For you!” She declared with a smile. “Nopony should have no candy for Nightmare Night.”
The mare broke out in laughter. “Oooh, that’s sweet, dearie, but I don’t need it.” Her magic wrapped around the candy, pushing it back into Ciloa’s bag.
“Ciloa, what are you doing?” Shetland hissed quietly from afar, but the changeling continued on like she didn't hear a thing.
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure,” the mare chuckled. “You better go on now, while you can still get something.”
Right as the door closed again, Shetland poked Ciloa’s shoulder. Maybe a bit harder than she’d intended, as her friend jerked back, rubbing the spot. “What was that about-” She began, but then, as Ciloa’s head turned around, she saw a glimmer of pink fog swirling around her horn. “Oh…” she mumbled.
Ciloa swallowed, lowering her head to avoid Shetland’s eyes.
“You’ve been doing that spiel for love?”
Ciloa nodded.
“And that’s why you wanted to slow down? Because you wanted some… lovesnacks?”
She nodded again.
“Hoboy…” Shetland groaned, rubbing her temples. Yet another wrench in her plans, as if the night was cursed! A chuckle wrought from her throat. “It’s a nightmare night, alright…”
“S-Shetland?” Ciloa asked nervously. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes…” She mumbled. Why had she accepted that stupid bet? There was no way she could win with Ciloa at her side, holding at every house to guzzle up some affection. And she couldn’t even be mad at her because of course she’d wanna do that, she was a changeling! She pressed her hoof into the ground as she envisioned Abraxis’s laughing face… that stupid, arrogant voice calling her a barehead, and she’d have to listen to him. Her hooves tensed, she needed something to kick, fast.
“Oh, hey, Bareface!”
Oh no. She turned around and she cursed in the name of Luna, because it was him. Of course it was him, grinning at her with his two lackeys at his side. She also couldn’t help but notice the three sizeable candy bags levitating beside them. And of course he noticed her look.
“Oh, you wanna compare?” His horn lit brighter and before she could react, Shetland’s bag floated out of her hoof.
“Hey!”
“Oh, chill, I’m just comparing.” He rolled his eyes as he opened both bags. “Not bad.” He teased, smugly, facing her glare with a grin. Unfortunately, Shetland had to admit he had a little bit more.
“I’ll beat you.” She whispered, even as she failed to think of a how.
“Ohoho, I wanna see that!” He laughed. “The best hours are over, you wouldn’t even get enough if we just leaned back. Not with the clingy mute at your side.” He smirked over at Ciloa, who shuffled behind Shetland’s back
But Shetland was frozen. “She’s shy.” She whispered, her voice like the ice over a volcano. “Not a mute.”
“Could’a fooled me, Flatland.” He laughed.
“My name is Shetland.” She said.
He just stuck out his tongue. “Not when we win, it won’t be, then you’ll be Flatland, just an ordinary barehead, instead of the princess’s undeserved favorite.” At the last part, his smirk vanished.
Freezing water ran over Shetland’s back, soon replaced by lava bursting in her face. “She’s my mom, moron, of course I deserve to be her favorite.”
“It’s wasted on you!” He hissed. “Nopony needs an earth pony princess. All you do is block the way for a unicorn who could actually become something great by being taught by her!”
“And that’d be you, huh?” She scoffed. “Never heard of a racist becoming an alicorn!”
“It’s not racism if it’s just true!” He screamed. “If you weren’t there, she could be teaching somepony to be the next greatest mage in history or something. Instead, she’s just coddling you.”
It was as if her brain erupted like a volcano. “SHE DOES NOT CODDLE ME, HORNHEAD!” She took an angry step towards him and saw with delight that he backed off. “And you know what, she’d never teach an asshole like you. She’d rather drink vomit than spend even a second teaching you to fucking count!”
“You don’t frikkin’ know.” He snarled. “You know nothing about magic.”
“I think I do know. ‘Cause unlike you, I get to actually speak to her.”
“We’ll see about that.” He shot a last glare at her before turning around. “Just try to beat us, Flatland. You can’t.” His head snapped around at his companions. “Fate, Fortune, same as before.” They both nodded, breaking away into different streets, leaving behind a steaming Shetland.
“I. Hate him. So much.” Her voice seethed. And it was even worse, as it dawned on her what they were doing: By splitting up, they could cover so many more houses than she and Ciloa could! She turned around, fixating her eyes on the small changeling. “We’ll split up.” She said determinedly. “Then I can go as fast as I can, you can be slower, but you need to give your best-” Her voice trailed off. Ciloa’s eyes had grown wide and she backed off. Her whole body was shaking like leaves in a storm.
“A-alone?” She whispered, her a high pitch sneaking into her voice.
“Yeah.” Shetland nodded, clenching her teeth. Don’t make this more difficult.
To her dismay, the changeling seemed close to tears. “P-please don’t…” she nervously looked to either side, anywhere but at Shetland, who now fully lost her temper.
“What is it?” She asked, raising her voice without meaning too, but she’d had enough. “What could it be that is more important?”
A loud squeak escaped from Ciloa, who raised a hoof in front of her face, as if to protect herself from Shetland. “I-I don’t wanna go alone in the dark.” She stuttered quietly.
Shetland turned away, a frustrated scream erupting from her mouth. EVERYTHING WAS AGAINST HER! Furiously, she glared at the back of Abraxis’s lackey, Fortune, who was already on the next street. The way he was moving, he would walk around the outskirts to reach the bridge…
“Stay here, Ciloa.” She forced the words out.
“D-Don’t go!” Ciloa shouted, her voice peaking.
“Stay in the light, I’ll be right back.” She said. “I just wanna check out something. I’ll be right back.” She added reassuringly to the shaking filly. Ciloa nodded, and Shetland trotted off, following as Fortune reached the outskirts.
He seemed unaware of her, even as he nervously looked around before sitting down, half-hidden behind the balustrade. His magic shone brightly in the dark and he cursed, stopping the glow of his horn to instead awkwardly fidget with his hooves, trying to unwrap a candy bar.
Shetland smirked. That just made it easier. She circled around him, approaching from behind. Only when she was very close, at the other side of the balustrade, did she jump up, placing her forehoove on it and glaring down at him. “Trying to hide something?”
It was exhilarating to watch him jump up with a startled yelp. His mane and tail stood on end as he whirled around. “Y-YOU!” He exclaimed, unable to stop his voice from pitching. “Barehead!”
“That’s not my name.” Shetland growled, jumping over the balustrade.
“G-go a-away.” He nervously stammered as she inched closer, forcing him to take a step back for each of hers. “Y-you lose, s-so you have to listen.”
“I didn’t lose yet.” She said darkly. “And I don’t plan to.”
“B-b-but Abraxis said you couldn’t get enough-”
“He’s wrong.” Her eyes became tiny slits as she straightened her legs, glaring down as she towered over him. “Because I’m taking yours.”
“W-WHAT? NO, ARE YOU CRAZY- AAAAH!” His scream was interrupted as she shot forward, biting down on his mane and then pulling up, painfully tearing at his hair.
“STOP! STOOP!” He cried, throwing his hooves against her and even lighting his horn, but neither was strong enough to affect her. “STOOOP!”
“Give! Me!” Shetland shouted through her teeth.
“NEVER-” His scream increased as she jerked upwards, forcing his forelegs from the ground. Tears shot in his eyes as several strands snapped. “TAKE IT!” He cried, kicking over his bag. “JUST LET ME GO!”
She dropped him on the ground, but before he could get up, she pressed a forehoof on his chest. “No word. To anypony.” She hissed. “Or I’ll tear your mane off.”
His teary eyes widened and he nodded rapidly before she let go of his chest and he scurried away like a scared dog. Shetland followed him with her eyes, a grin slowly spreading over her face. That was remarkably easy, she thought as she shoved the contents of his dropped bag into her own.
“You know how I said I saw something? Turns out it was a ton of candy!” Shetland grinned, presenting the well-filled bag to Ciloa, who stared with wide eyes.
“Y-you just found that?” She asked incredulously.
“Yep.” Shetland said, consciously trying not to flinch. “”With this, we have a serious chance at winning!”
“It must belong to somepony!” Ciloa exclaimed. “We have to give it back.”
Shetland groaned. “I’m not gonna eat it, we just need it for like, twenty minutes.” She rolled her eyes at Ciloa’s worried look. “I’m gonna bring it back where I found it after we win. I promise.” She added, which seemed to mollify her friend.
“I guess…” She mumbled.
“Also,” Shetland said with a grin. “Now that we’re not in a time crunch, you can get some lovebites on the way back, how’s that sound?”
Although she didn’t say anything, it brought a smile to Ciloa’s face.
With a grin, they proudly trotted into the light of the lantern, Shetland carrying their large bag in her mouth- it hurt her neck, but she forced it upwards triumphantly, so everypony could see.
“Here.” She threw it at the ground, where Abraxis and one of his friends stood. His eyes widened at the sheer bulk, yet it only took a moment for him to snarl.
“Y-You must have cheated!”
Shetland simply grinned as she opened her mouth to retort, but somepony else beat her to it.
“No accusations, please.” Twilight’s voice came from behind her. Shetland whirled around. How can alicorns be sneaky? She can’t sneak and her mother is sooo much larger even!
Regardless, Twilight smiled down at them. “I guess I should be proud of you.” She snickered, poking the bag. “My little glutton, you~”
“Mom.” Shetland hissed quietly. She could hear Ciloa chuckle. “I’m not fat.”
“Nopony claimed that, Shetty.” She raised an eyebrow. “Except for you.”
But Shetland decided she had enough of that conversation. There were more fulfilling things in life that required her attention. Like gloating to Abraxis!
“Seems like you’ll be an honorary barehead for a month, Raxi~” She whispered.
“Don’t count your apples early.” He hissed. “Fortune’s gonna come back and then we’ll be the winners again.”
“If he even comes in time.” She smirked. “Five minutes-”
“SHE ATTACKED ME!”
Everypony fell silent as Shetland’s blood froze. Slowly turning around, she saw Fortune, the little ratting runt, wildly gesturing at her. She met his eyes with an icy glare, which she quickly morphed into a look of confusion. “Who, me?”
Twilight looked from one to the other before she stepped in. With a sharp edge in her voice, she regarded him. “Fickle Fortune, was it?”
He nodded, even as he bit his lips.
“Would you please explain why you are saying that my daughter attacked you?”
“C-cause she did!” He stammered. “She forced me to give her my candy!”
“He’s lying!” Shetland shouted, gritting her teeth, staring at Twilight, wishing she could force her to believe her.
“HA!” Abraxis smirked. “I knew you were cheating.”
“Shut up, Abraxis!” She screamed.
“ENOUGH!” Twilight yelled and everypony fell silent once again. She turned to Shetland. “Is this true?” She asked, her voice cracking. “Did you do that?”
“No!” She stomped her hoof, staring into her eyes, even as it became uncomfortable. “You have to believe me, he’s lying!”
But Twilight’s ears dropped and sadness swept in her voice as she said: “Give it back, Shetland.”
She blinked, her jaw dropping. “I-I didn’t-”
“I know you’re lying.” Twilight said sternly. Her wings spread out. “Fortune, take what is yours.”
He nodded, carefully approaching Shetland, who was now seething with anger. Why would she believe THEM over HER? She growled as Fortune reached his hoof into her back, making him pause for a moment. But then he grinned, pulling out piece after piece of what should’ve been her victory! She heard Abraxis laughing behind her back, the urge to kick out, to hurt became almost unbearable. And then Fortune pulled out an unnecessarily evenly-cut piece of chocolate. “That’s not yours.” She hissed dangerously. And his grin widened shamelessly.
“I think it is~”
“No, THAT’S MINE, YOU ALREADY TOOK YOURS BACK!”
“Are you trying to hold back?” He smirked, knowing he could take whatever he wanted.
Speechless, she realized she couldn't stop him, nopony would believe her, not even her own mother-
Something in her snapped. With a yell, she surged forward, ramming into Fortune, knocking him to the ground. She raised her hoof to pound that ugly grin into his face! But then she flew into the air, unable to reach him anymore as her mother’s lavender aura held her helplessly.
“SHETLAND!” She gasped. Her voice was trembling. “I would have never expected-” She took a heavy breath. “Grounded. GROUNDED! GROUNDED UNTIL YOU LEARN-” She seemed unable to complete the sentence. Then she addressed the crowd. “Everypony, leave us alone. Go to the Nightmare Moon statue or play games. Now.”
No one denied her and moments later there was only Ciloa hiding behind a nearby tree. Twilight did not notice her, however, all her fury concentrated on Shetland, who suddenly felt something she seldomly did. Very, very small. She opened her mouth, but Twilight cut her off.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Her voice was still trembling, yet controlled. “I… I would have never dreamed that you-”
“He deserved it, he wanted to take mine too!” Shetland protested. Compared to her mother’s, her voice sounded frail.
“It doesn’t matter. There is no reason you should ever attack somepony like that… but I’m not going to discuss this now. Go home. I’ll come back later with your punishment.
Shetland lowered her head, staring at the ground.
“Shetty…” Twilight said through her teeth. “If you’re not going, I will teleport you!”
Shetland took a deep breath. She raised her head, meeting her mothers eyes. “C-can I go to the statue at least?”
Maybe she was too surprised by the question, maybe it was something in her voice, but Twilight didn’t refuse her outright. “Why?” She asked, her dark tone indicating she better have a good reason to ask.
“B-because of Ciloa.” She turned her head, and now Twilight too saw the small, shivering changeling watching from her tree, clinging to one of the branches. “She’s afraid of the dark,” Shetland explained. “Can I go with her?”
Twilight met her eyes for nearly a full minute. It felt like she was seeing her insides, burrowing through her brain and heart-
“Alright.” Twilight nodded to the disbelief of her daughter. “You can go with her, but if anything else happens-” She shook her head and said sternly: “Then I can’t even think of a punishment, but it’ll be bad.”
Shetland nodded, her eyes turning back to the ground. Her anger still waved through her, but it was pointless. With a defeated sigh, she went to knock on Ciloa’s tree. “Let’s go.” She muttered.
Disbelief was written on Abraxis’s face as he saw her rejoin the group. Fortune backed away, but she ignored them. It was funny, but despite her anger at being grounded, there was nothing she’d rather do than go to her room. But… she owed Ciloa. The changeling walked close to her side, their shoulders almost touching as she nervously peeked through the dark trees. The pegasi had woven a dense fog over the area, making it hard to make out anything. Shetland was unfazed, she’d seen this before, though she patted her friend on the shoulder reassuringly.
“CHILDREN.” A voice intoned from all directions. “YOU HAVE COME TO OFFER YOUR SACRIFICE FOR YOU TO BE SPARED ONCE MORE?”
Some of the foals shuddered. Shetland kept patting. Princess Luna (as Nightmare Moon) emerged from the fog with a startling scream, eliciting panicked yelps from them.
“OFFER IT NOOOHOHOOOOO!”
She was trying too hard. Shetland rolled her eyes, but the younger foals burst forth, emptying their candy bags before her. And Ciloa was the first, of course.
Suddenly, she felt the princess’s eyes on her. She sighed, meeting her eyes and shrugged her hoof, mouthing “No candy, sorry.”
Maybe she saw the resignation in her eyes. Luna gave a little nod and passed her up, instead choosing Fate for a fake punishment for not bringing enough candy. Shetland let out a relieved sigh and watched as Fate was tickle-tortured. A chuckling Ciloa appeared at her side.
“We can go now if you want.” She whispered.
“Are you sure?” Shetland asked, surprised. “It’s not over yet.”
She nodded. “I’m sure.”
The way back home was uneventful. Maybe because Shetland simply wasn’t looking. With a deep frown on her face, she simply trudged onward.
“Sorry.” Ciloa said.
“For what?” Shetland blinked.
“For how today went… for you being grounded.”
“It’s okay…” Shetland sighed. “It’s more that I lost the damn bet-” Suddenly, her eyes were drawn downwards. A small bag floated below her and it was filled to the point of bursting. With candy! “Wha- where’d you-” She stammered, looking from the bag to Ciloa. “You stole it from Princess Luna!?”
“I figured you needed it more than she does. She didn't do anything for it, anyway.” She said with a warm smile. “I can go home from here. I’ll definitely visit you!” And she ran home, leaving Shetland confused and amazed. She had no idea how the shy filly had mustered the courage to steal from Nightmare Moon-
And amazed, because the warm smile now adorned her own lips, too.
