Just Take A Guess At How Well This Ends Up
"Come on Fluttershy, you gotta try it."
"But Rainbow Dash, I have tried it."
She was right. There was one time several years ago where Fluttershy challenged her Nightmare Night fear and gave the holiday a try. But after she found it to be quite unfun, she decided never to do it again, and went back to her old tradition of holing herself up at home.
"But Fluttershy that was different! That was like three years ago."
Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't feel that different.."
"But you're a lot braver than you were before. Just think of all of the things that you've done!"
"But I don't want to be scared. I don't want to scare others. How is that any different?"
"Well it's different because you have me!" Rainbow Dash cheered. Rainbow Dash then scooted her body closer to Fluttershy. She lifted up her hoof and wrapped it around Fluttershy's shoulder. She pulled her closer to her; Fluttershy's head felt neatly into place cupped up against Rainbow Dash's shoulder.
Fluttershy blushed and looked up towards her mate. "So?" she asked. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean it's any more fun," she hesitantly said. Rainbow Dash was about to open her mouth to say more before Fluttershy quick retorted.
"And using our relationship as a reason for me to do what you want doesn't count either."
Rainbow Dash sighed. She hung her head down a bit and pulled Fluttershy closer to her. "But I just want you to have fun with the holiday. I mean it's so cool. All of the costumes, the treats, the tricks, and all of the scary fun! I want to share something the holiday with you."
Fluttershy sighed. "But I don't like scary fun..." she said softly.
"But you like those other things right?"
Fluttershy paused for the moment before she slowly nodded. "I think I do," she softly said.
"Then why not focus on those elements?"
"Because I'll still get scared out there." Fluttershy shivered and curled closer into Rainbow Dash. "There's all sorts of scary costumes and scary pranks. I don't think I could handle it."
Rainbow nodded and sighed. Her tail flickered behind her hitting up against the couch she was perched on. It took her a couple of seconds before her ears popped up and her wings popped out. "Hey I have an idea."
"Hmmm?" Fluttershy asked.
"What if I can guarantee that you won't be scared on Nightmare Night?"
Fluttershy tilted her head, curious. "How can you guarantee that?" she asked.
"I'll protect you!" Rainbow Dash cried out. "I'll make sure that nothing out there can scare you. We'll do what you want to do. Maybe we can even go to a party or something like that. One that's not scary. I just want you to experience the fun too."
Fluttershy blushed and shyly looked away. "But wouldn't I ruin your night?" she asked softly.
Rainbow Dash quickly shook her head. "No, as long as I'm with you I'm sure my night will be a blast!"
Fluttershy smiled and rested her own hoofs around Rainbow. She looked up towards her flicking her hair out of her eyes.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive!"
Fluttershy blushed and nuzzled softly into Rainbow's chest. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Awesome!" Rainbow pumped her fist in the air.
"But no pranks or tricks," she said.
"You got it," she said. "Don't worry, I mean it when I say that I'll make nothing will scare you!"
"I trust you," Fluttershy said happily as she let herself melt into Rainbow Dash's lap and body. Rainbow smiled over her. She was excited. This was a great opportunity for the two of them, now all she had to do is make sure Fluttershy wouldn't get scared. Easy right?
Nightmare Night. The night of her plans had arrived. It would be a much different Nightmare Night for her. Rather than going around scaring kids and Pinkie Pie, she was going to be on her best behavior. And with this she dawned a non-threatening Daring Do costume. She even died her hair for the role. She looked pretty much exactly like her minus the blue fur, as if she was a recolor. Her plans were simple. She was going to show Fluttershy the non scary fun of Nightmare Night. They'd go trick or treating, they'd go to a party, she knew Twilight was hosting one. She asked around and did her homework. She was confident that she could do this. And with that confidence Rainbow Dash happily flew over to Fluttershy's house in the ominous black night.
She stopped right by the door. She craned her head to look inside the house but Fluttershy seemed to have moved the furniture around so the windows could not be seen out of. Rainbow let out a sigh. Maybe this would be harder than she had previously imagined.
Careful not to spook Fluttershy she leaned into the door. "Hey Fluttershy!" she cried out as loud and as Rainbow Dashy as possible. She could hear a squeak on the other side. The door quickly flung open and Rainbow Dash fell down onto the floor below. Fluttershy hung overhead looking down at her visitor. Fluttershy for what it was worth did dress up. She picked a classic, or more rather she picked the only not very scary "scary" thing she could think of, a werewolf. And in this case this meant she was wearing a simple wolf costume complete with fur, and a wolf tail.
"Hello Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy nervously greeted, her limbs shaking.
Rainbow scooted over to Fluttershy and grabbed her hoof around her shoulder. She pulled her tightly into her body wrapping her up in a warm embrace. "Hey," she said. "There's no reason to be scared. No matter what happens I'll protect you."
Fluttershy sighed and nodded as she let herself sink yet again into Rainbow's body. "Thanks," she softly cooed.
"No problem!" she said. "I want to make sure that we both have a lot of fun."
"Yay~" Fluttershy softly said.
"Now are you ready to go?"
Fluttershy nervously took a look around her brightly lit house and then back towards Rainbow Dash. "Alright," she said softly. "Let's do this."
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash cried out loudly. She then dug into her saddlebag and pulled out an authentic Adventuring Lantern. She turned the dial and it lit radiantly against the night sky.
Fluttershy looked at the lantern and smiled at the light it gave off. "That's handy," she said.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said with a nervous chuckle. "Usually I wouldn't but I figured you'd like to have the light."
"I do," she cooed. "Thanks."
"No problem!"
The two of them then descended down the path with the lantern as their guide. The lantern lit up the area around them quite well providing a safe comfy light to guide them on their journey. Even though the area beyond the light was dark Fluttershy took comfort in the light and the wing of her lover embracing her. She looked over at her lovers face, highlighted by the light. Maybe this wasn't so bad.
The first house peered into view. Rainbow looked over at it and it's dim light up on the porch. "Are you ready for some trick or treating?" she asked.
"Sure," Fluttershy said as she leaned in closer to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow blushed. Her first instinct was to recoil away. They were in public after all. But she had a job to do. So she accepted the pony leaning into her and led them up to that first house. She knocked up on the door and waited outside of it with Fluttershy in her arms. Fluttershy shivered a bit. Rainbow however responded by pulling her tighter to her, wrapping the wolf up in her wing. Fluttershy settled down.
In response a head popped out. An older pony with gray hair greeted them.
"Trick or treat!" Rainbow Dash said holding out her saddlebag with her hooves.
"Trick or treat," Fluttershy nervously followed missing up the timing and slowly fading into the background.
The ponies head tilted to the side. "Aren't you two a bit old for this?" she asked.
They were floored by this question. Rainbow Dash knew that some ponies didn't like it when older ponies joined in on the festivities but she didn't expect she'd run into that right from the start. She winced and looked over at Fluttershy who looked worried. "No?" she hesitated.
The older pony shrugged and tossed some candy in their bags. "Suit yourself," she said before closing the door.
"Trust me most of them aren't like that," she said.
Fluttershy nodded shyly. "I'll trust you."
"I mean it!" Dash said. "The next one will be better."
Fluttershy blinked and pat her head softly. "I said I trust you," Fluttershy said.
Rainbow blinked and shook her head wildly. "Oh," she said.
Rainbow shyly made her way over to the next house. She meant what she said but she wasn't as confident in it as she'd like to be. Sadly this was a game of chance. Who knew what each of these houses would bring. Luckily the next one at least looked nice as it had a nice pumpkin display out in front of it. Fluttershy hovered by the display and admired it.
While she did that Rainbow Dash knocked on the door. In a flash the door jolted open. On the other side was an orange earth pony with a braid and a flower in her hair. The pony wore a big smile when she saw them both there. "Daring Do and a werewolf, that's an interesting combination!"
Rainbow chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head under her hat. "Yeah," she said. "We both decided to just go with what we liked."
"That's fair," the pony responded. "How'd you folks like a bunch of candy?" she asked before pulling out a large container of candy and dropping a couple scoops of candy into their buckets.
Fluttereshy looked up at her with her wide eyes. "Thank you."
"No problem~"
The pony smiled before slowly closing the door behind them.
"That was nice," Fluttershy said as she looked down at the candy in her bag.
"Heh, yeah it was," Rainbow answered.
The next couple of house went off without a hitch. Fluttershy wasn't too used to the mannerisms and often enough she held back herself for too long and had to quickly catch up. Luckily most of the ponies were nice and took pity on the soft fearful pony. They tossed heaps of candy into her bag. As Fluttershy trotted along with Dash next to her she looked into the bag filled with candy and tilted her head. "Everyone is so generous with the candy."
"Well they want you to have fun," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. "They know the effort you're putting into it and are giving all of that candy so you can enjoy yourself."
Fluttershy shyly smiled and stared down into the pile of candy. "That's very nice of them," she said.
"See!" Rainbow Dash proudly. "There's more to Nightmare Night than just scaring. There's also fun and kindness."
Fluttershy nodded. "You're right."
Rainbow Dash smiled. The first part of her Nightmare Night date was a success. Fluttershy could see the kindness and fun in trick or treating, and she successfully comforted and kept the spooks at bay so that Fluttershy wouldn't get scared. It was looking like this would be a successful day. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
"Boo!" cried out a loud voice from the darkness. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy let out a shriek. Rainbow Dash quickly jumped up in front of her mate and extended her wings to protect.
"Whose there?" she cried out. Fluttershy curled up into Rainbow Dash and shook a bit.
"It is I, the Ghost of Halloween Past!" cried out the voice from the darkness. It was clear that whoever was guiding this voice was trying to act spooky, however their voice was too playful and too giggly to portray that spookiness accurately, or even close to accurately. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy knew exactly who it was. Fluttershy stopped shaking and popped her head out from behind Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie, you know you're really bad at this."
Pinkie giggled. "Sorry but it's just so fun!" she cried out. Pinkie jumped into the light revealing a very simple makeshift ghost costume.
"Really?" Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yup!" Pinkie cried out.
"Don't you have a dozen better costumes?"
"But you'd expect that!"
"What does that matter?" Rainbow cried out.
Pinkie blinked. "Oh right!" she said before whistling to herself. "That means nothing at all."
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and looked back towards her. Fluttershy tilted her head and asked softly. "Pinkie Pie, what is this about?"
Pinkie Pie tilted her head back and blinked. "Fluttershy? I didn't expect to see you here! What are you doing here?"
Fluttershy curled up into Rainbow. "Oh.. Not much.. Rainbow just wanted to show me Nightmare Night, that's all."
"Wow! She got you to go?" Pinkie asked her mouth dropping a mile deep. "I didn't expect that. I thought you would be steadfast in saying no."
Fluttershy nodded shyly. "Rainbow promised to protect me from anything that might scare me, so I decided to give it a try."
"Cool!" she Pinkie exclaimed before her eyes grew wide and she started pacing. "Wait... So you two are going to be together the whole night?"
"Well yea?" Rainbow answered. "How else am I going to protect her?"
"Righttttt..." Pinkie said nervously as she trotted around in place. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you. Got to go bye!" Pinkie bounced out of the light and down the pathway. They could hear fanatic hoofsteps as she presumably fled the area.
"What was that all about?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know," Fluttershy answered.
Rainbow Dash shrugged and turned to Fluttershy. They shared a concerned look between them. "Do you think we should do anything about that?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy shrugged. "I think it should be fine... I think."
"Alright,"
Fluttershy dazed off into the dark distance, wondering what could lie beneath the deptsh of its secrets. "I wonder what all of the others are doing for Nightmare Night."
"Oh right!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Well I know that Twilight is having a Nightmare Night party at her house."
"Not Pinkie Pie?"
"Pinkie Pie wanted to join in on the Trick or Treating with everyone like she usually does. Or at least that's what she said. So Twilight did the setting up. It's going on a bit later in the night. You should come."
"Sure thing," Fluttershy said with a soft smile.
"Great!"
The two of them continued their journey along the streets of Ponyville with a hop and a skip in their step. There were some lights from the windows lighting up the main streets. Foals could be seen running around going from house to house making the trick or treating runs.
"Oh look there's the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof towards them.
Rainbow dashed over to the crusaders. She held Fluttershy tightly in her wing taking her with her. Fluttershy didn't freak out but rather let herself be taken so completely. The two of them landed next to the Cutie Mark Crusaders in a flash of light, a grin creeping across Rainbow Dash's face.
"Aaaah!" cried out the Crusaders in unison. They quickly jumped up and scrambled off. Fluttershy let out a little squeak herself, startled by the surprised cries.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. "Uh, what's going on?"
"I don't know..."
"Well okay.." She turned to the house right in front of them and knocked calmly on the door. There they were greeted to the usual smiles and friendliness that they had come to expect from Nightmare Night, which only made their friends fleeing more confusing.
As they continued along their path the lit city street slowly faded into a dim side street. As they got farther from the main street Rainbow Dash held Fluttershy closer and closer to her. She looked over at her mate and asked her, "Hey I know it's getting dark, do you think you're ready to go through it?"
Fluttershy blinked and shyly looked away. "I guess so.."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled into her mate and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be there to protect you the whole way."
"Thanks," she said as the two of them trotted their way through the dimly lit street. There were some houses that were lit up and ready but for the most part their lantern was what kept the darkness at bay.
Still it was unassuming. It was a random street in Ponyville what dangers could there be in Ponyville? That was when Rainbow Dash turned her head to the side. She could barely see it due to the lack of lighting but she saw something red. A crimson red. A scary red. She swallowed. She had to just be seeing things right? There shouldn't be anything actually scary on Nightmare Night right? She slowly craned her head over to the display. She pushed Fluttershy's head into her body covering her eyes and drifted the lantern into the alleyway. And there she saw the body of a pony blanketed with crimson red blood.
"Aaaaaah!!!" she loudly shouted. She grabbed Fluttershy into a bear hug and zoomed off into the sky.
Fluttershy shook as she heard her mate scream. "What's wrong?" she softly cooed.
"It's nothing!" Rainbow lied.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and asked. "Then why are we running away."
"No reason!"
Bam! Rainbow collided with another entity and fell down onto the ground. She spun herself around, her back landed with a thud against the ground. She kept Fluttershy close to her, her wings and hooves wrapped around her covering her eyes and holding her close. Rainbow quickly tried to get up. She looked up towards the sky and that's when she saw a figure in a pure black cloak looking down at her. A pair of evil green eyes stared back at her. She could feel slobber drip down onto her face as the hooded figure licked their lips.
Rainbow cried out yet again, now shivering. She tried kick her hooves out and ground herself, but it was hard with her hold on Fluttershy.
Fluttershy could tell that something was wrong. She poked her head out from Rainbow Dash's wings and looked up at the figure itself. She let out a terrified shriek. Rainbow Dash's heart sank. No, anything but that. Even if she was scared to the core she would take it. She would take it as long as she protected Fluttershy. She promised her. She meant that promise.
"No!" shouted out Rainbow Dash before bucking herself off the ground and vaulting into the hooded figure.
The hooded figure let down a "huh?" sound before thudding on the ground.
Rainbow Dash was about to make a break for it when she could feel the hooded figure grab her by the hoof. Rainbow Dash let out another shriek before she felt a soft touch on her head. A steady voice rang out, "Rainbow Dash, is that Fluttershy with you?"
"Applejack?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Eeyup," Applejack answered. She flicked her head causing her hood to fall off and her mane to topple down. She reached a hoof out to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Fluttershy poked her head out and looked over at her friend.
"Oh it's just Applejack."
"What in tarnation is going on here?"
"That's what I want to know!" Rainbow Dash cried out. "Why the hey were you being so scary?"
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you always do?"
Rainbow Dash blinked. "...I uh don't know what you're talking about."
"What is she talking about?" pondered Fluttershy.
"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash echoed.
Applejack sighed and glared at Rainbow Dash. "Aren't you the pony that goes around scaring all of the trick or treaters?"
Fluttershy's eyes drifted to Rainbow Dash, slight hints of the stare could be seen in her expression. "Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash quickly shook her head. "Never did that!"
"Last year you dressed up as Chrysalis and were yelling about how you have returned."
"Never happened!"
"A couple of years ago you dressed up as a Shadowbolt and used your lightning cloud to spook the foals."
"Nope, can't recall that."
"And there was this time that you dressed up as cannon ball and flung yourself into crowds of trick or treaters."
"Uh no, that one was Pinkie Pie."
Applejack wracked her brain for a moment and nodded. "You're right."
Fluttershy leaned into Rainbow Dash and nuzzled her muzzle. She then lightly bit on her ear. Dashie squeaked in surprise and turned her head to her mate. She was greeted by a concerned look.
"Yeah?"
"That one?"
"Huh?" Rainbow asked.
Applejack chuckled. "I get it!"
Rainbow groan and muttered. "I don't."
"You admitted that you did the other scares," Fluttershy said.
Rainbow blinked. "What? How?"
"You said that one," Applejack said. "That means you did the other ones!"
"What!? No!"
Fluttershy leaned in closer to Rainbow Dash, she nervously jittered; her wings locked up. Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy. Fluttershy responded in kind by petting Dash's head softly.
Dash slowly settled down into a lull. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her mate rubbing her head.
"Did you do it?" Fluttershy asked softly.
Rainbow Dash grumbled and closed herself in some. "Do I really have to answer?"
Fluttershy nuzzled into her mate. "You don't have to but I'd really appreciate it if you did."
Rainbow sighed and nodded. "Yeah I did."
Fluttershy pet Rainbow's head more. "But what about the fun of Trick or treating? Won't that scare all the foals away from doing it."
"What?" Dash asked. She clearly hadn't thought about that. "Getting scared is part of the fun. I'm adding to it by scaring them."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I am," Rainbow Dash replied.
Fluttershy nodded and pet Rainbow Dash's head.
"And how did you feel about the scare that you got. You looked mighty scared to me."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Look I wouldn't have minded but I promised Fluttershy that I wouldn't let anything scare her." She sighed. "I wanted to keep that promise."
Fluttershy nuzzled into her mate and pet her back. "It's ok, you tried."
Rainbow blinked and looked up. "Huh?"
Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash a big hug and smiled. "You tried and that's the important part."
"But you were still scared."
"I can handle it."
"But I still failed you. I promised you that you wouldn't be scared and you still got scared!"
"I know you're upset about it. But I'm okay. I know you tried really hard." She pet Rainbow's back again. "You did everything you could. I don't blame you for failing."
"Does this mean we can-"
Fluttershy quickly tapped her shoulder and shook her head. "I still don't like being scared."
"Yeah... that makes sense." Rainbow's voice tapped off and she looked down towards the dirty ground.
Fluttershy nuzzled into her easing her nose into the spot just below her turned down head. She slowly pushed it up. "But I will continue to spend the night with you." She blushed and hid a bit of a smile.
"You will?" Rainbow Dash asked perking her ears.
Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah."
"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
She grinned before turning her attention to Applejack in front of her. "Oh right, I have a question for you."
"Eeyup?"
"What in the hay are you doing in that black coat, all mysterious and evil like?"
Applejack shuttered up. She looked around nervously. "I uh can't tell you that."
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why not?" she stomped her foot on the ground. "Tell me."
"Nope, not happening," Applejack said shaking her head.
"Say it or I'll force you to," Dash replied before jumping onto her.
"What in tarnation do you think you're doing?" cried out Applejack as she tried to push the rambunctious pony off of her.
"I'm trying to get the truth out of you."
"You don't understand!" Applejack cried out as she tried to buck Rainbow Dash off of her. She managed to be successful and Rainbow Dash tumbled back erupting into a couple of tumbles and spins through the air. Despite all of the twists and turns she could she managed to land back on her hooves and stared her down.
"What don't I understand?"
"I can't tell you! I can't break the pinkie promise!"
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Come on it can't be that bad. I just broke a promise just today. These things happen."
"Just because they do happen doesn't mean that they should. I'm sorry but you're not going to get any information out of me," Applejack said stomping her hooves against the ground.
Rainbow Dash huffed and glared Applejack straight in the eyes. Applejack shivered and started to take a couple of hoofsteps back. Fluttershy glided over to Rainbow Dash and pat her head softly. "I know you want to know but settle down please."
"It's more than I want to know. I want to know why she scared you!"
"It's fine Rainbow Dash. You don't need to go to that much trouble."
Applejack paused for a moment before asking, "Wait you two plan on being together for the whole day, right?"
"Well yeah, that was the plan," Rainbow Dash said. "Why?"
Applejack's face was flushed with pure terror as if she had saw the very scares that had scared poor Rainbow Dash earlier.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both looked at her confused. "What's up?" Rainbow asked. "You look like you saw a ghost." Rainbow then gulped. It was Nightmare Night. Applejack was scared. That could only mean one thing. She nervously craned her head back to look at what was behind her. Except that she couldn't see anything scary in that area. It was peaceful and normal, just the dimly lit street and their lantern lighting up the dirt road.
Rainbow turned back to Applejack. "Yeah... I don't see anything scary."
"It's nothing!" Applejack quickly rejected.
Fluttershy shook her head. "That doesn't look like nothing." She floated over to Applejack and looked into her eyes. "Come on Applejack we'll be willing to help if you open up."
Rainbow huffed at this gesture, a tinge of annoyance could be seen in her expression.
Applejack bucked at the ground. "You don't get it!" she cried out. "You have to be careful."
"Careful? Why?"
An answer came. Purple mist started to fill the street. The three ponies all looked down at the eerie mist, their knees started to buckle as their limbs shook. A flash of lightning could be heard behind them. Applejack jumped up a bit. Fluttershy quickly fled to Rainbow Dash who opened up her wing for Fluttershy to perfectly tuck herself into. Rainbow Dash was used to lightning so this didn't do that much to her.
However it was a different story when she could feel the light air of breaths breathing at the nape of her neck. She looked towards Fluttershy on one side still curled into her, averting her gaze in her wing. She then looked towards the other side, angry and confused. But when she looked over to the side she didn't see anything there.
"What the heck?" Rainbow cried out.
An ominous wind blew. The three ponies manes fluttered in the wind. Rainbow turned to the source of the wind but there was nothing special. She shivered and looked around. "Hey Applejack, do you have any idea what's going on?"
Applejack shook her head and stood her ground trying to stop the shaking of her hooves. "I got no clue."
Rainbow shivered more. A menacing laugh floated into her ear. Rainbow quickly flicked her ear down as if to block it off. But it kept on laughing, getting louder with each laugh.
"Stop it!" Rainbow cried out. She wanted to jump into the sky and dash off, but she had to protect Fluttershy. She grabbed her into her hooves making her to cover her eyes before jumping up and flying off into the distance. However the laughs didn't stop. They only got louder. This distracted poor Rainbow Dash and her normally tip top flying skills got erratic. She swayed from side to side her balance lapsing with her movements. She ended up taking a bad turn into a dark alley way and landed on the ground.
The lantern that Fluttershy made sure to keep in her hooves, one of them needed to carry it after all, lit up the dark alleyway. There it was again, the bloody pony that Rainbow had seen before. Rainbow let out the loudest more terrified shriek that one had ever heard from the brave pony. Applejack, who was still back where Rainbow and Fluttershy had left her, could hear it loud and clear. Fluttershy could hear it louder than anyone. Something activated in her heart and she instantly burst out of the cocoon of Dash's warmth and jumped out in front of her. She snarled and stared at what was directly in front of her, the bloody pony. However once she saw what it was her eyes turned to compassion. She quickly dove to get a closer look at it. The crimson red color shone off the light and lit up the whole pony, but outside of that there wasn't much notable about the pony. It looked so lifeless. In fact it was lifeless. Fluttershy hesitantly reached out a hoof to the pony and tapped its head softly, confirming that it indeed was a mannequin.
Fluttershy turned to the shaken and nervously rocking Rainbow Dash. "It's a fake."
"It is? Thank goodness." She let out a loud relieved sigh. The laughing and wind had stopped. At least for now.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took the lantern and closely looked at the pony that was lying down on the ground. It was a mannequin. And on it was a dress. A dress was designed with white and that crimson red. The crimson red was so elegantly woven together with the rest of the design. It was erratic giving off the appearance of wounds, but when looked at with a critical eye, one could see that the art of it stood out.
"Why is there a mannequin with a bloody dress out here?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know," Fluttershy muttered.
Rainbow blinked. "I'm not liking this. We should probably go home." She paused. "Or we can go to Twilight's party, that should be nice and safe, right?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"Hold on tight," Rainbow said as she grabbed Fluttershy into another bear hug. She made her she gripped Fluttershy tightly. she tucked her into her body putting her all safe and secure in her arms. She then flapped her wings up into the sky and took off at mach ten. She dashed out through the city streets making the way over to Twilight's Castle. However she didn't go unchallenged. The laughter started to pick up again. The wind both picked up blowing directly into her face and slowing her down. The purple mist appeared again and obscured Dash's view as if it were a foggy day in San Foalcisco. Rainbow Dash thought there was no wind that could hold her back. But as the 150 mile an hour gusts lashed against her body she had to revise those thoughts.
"What's going on?" she yelled out, frustrated at the wind so harshly pressing up against her wings. She flew up into the sky but as she did so the winds only got harder and more steep. It was getting hard for her to even make any progress. How could some silly wind stop the faster flier in Equestria? Rainbow Dash didn't want to know how and in some ways at that moment that fact was what scared her the most.
Then in the distance she could see a tall plume of fire descend from the sky. Rainbow Dash let out another scream before quickly beating out the wind and tumbling through the sky erratically. She held onto Fluttershy tightly making sure that she wouldn't let got. Somehow by a fluke their move paid off. The two of them toppled into one of Twilight's open windows. They gripped each other tightly as they rolled down onto the ground and sprawled out on the floor of the room. The wind stopped. The laughing stopped. All of it stopped. They both panted heavily, holding each other tightly. For a good minute neither of them could think of getting up and moving on.
At this point Fluttershy curled her head into Rainbow's chest and was taking all of the warmth she could from it. Rainbow didn't want to do more than that either as she curled around Fluttershy and held her tightly back, using her as her own warmth.
Finally Dash looked her head up and craned her head around. It was a normal room. A normal safe room. She let out a sigh and picked herself up. She reached out a hoof to Fluttershy. Fluttershy shivered and shook her head.
"What's wrong?"
"I've had enough,"
"Huh?" Rainbow said her heart sinking into her stomach.
"I..." she sighed. Her eyes gazed up towards Rainbow. Rainbow figured they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon so she sat back down and hovered over Fluttershy.
"I'm sorry," Rainbow said.
"It's ok," Fluttershy softly answered.
"I really tried my be. Usually Nightmare Night isn't this scary. Usually it's calm and peaceful, I don't know what's up this time. I'm supposed to be the only one scaring ponies!"
Fluttershy nodded. "I believe you."
"You do?"
"If you look at all of the events it makes sense, Applejack hiding in a hood, the bloody dress with a mannequin that from probably used by Rarity, the wind that only seemed to effect us, the fire... There's no real monster out there that can do all of that..." Fluttershy gulped. "I hope."
"Then what was it?"
Fluttershy patted Rainbow's head softly.
"Our friends are trying to scare you."
"What? Why would they do that?"
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at that comment.
Rainbow paused. "Would it have anything to do with the whole scaring everyone every Nightmare Night?"
Fluttershy nodded. "I think so."
"Did you know about this?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm just as in the dark as you are. I could be wrong but that's what I think is happening."
"Well if they want to fight fire, then I'm going to fight fire with fire."
Fluttershys head perked up. "I'll go with you."
Rainbow's jaw dropped. "I thought you were done with this!"
"I am. I'm done with seeing you scared."
"Wait what?" asked Rainbow incredulously.
"It's heartbreaking to see the one you love in so much pain and terror. I'm sure you could feel to too. I'm sure you felt it for both of us. As did I. And considering how useless I am I fell powerless to stop anything that scared you. I didn't want to see you get hurt anymore. But I couldn't do anything but let you protect me. I would have no way of getting out of those situations. And I know you wouldn't want to back down. It's rough. The cost of protecting me made you fear more than you ever would have otherwise. And I hate that. By my count, there are probably some spooks left to hit you. I'm not sure if I can take that."
"Then why do you want to go with me?"
"To help you of course!"
Rainbow blinked. "Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense."
Fluttershy nodded. She then stood at attention and smiled to her lover. "Alright Rainbow Dash. I'll do whatever you say. How are we going to get these troublemakers back."
"Well then," Rainbow said rubbing her hooves together. This should be a fun game.
As the night grew darker and the time grew later the trick or treaters made their way back home to swallow all their candy like a vacuum. The candy disappeared into thin air and fell into their windpipes. Back in Twilight's castle though it was much different. Sure there was lots of candy and lots of happy ponies chomping down on that candy. However there was more. Some music was playing in the background. Starlight and Spike were sitting next to each other idly playing some card game. Rarity and Applejack were talking about something or another that no one else cared about, and Pinkie Pie and Twilight were well... Pinkie Pie was bouncing all around the room excitedly while Twilight humored her with responses.
They had dawned more fun costumes, a far cry from the other scarier outfits. Rarity was a famous actress. Applejack was an apple. Pinkie Pie was a pie. Twinkle Sparkle was a book, Spike was a large horn, and Starlight was Starlight. Leave it to the former dictator to find a way to ruin the fun of everything.
"I know!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "And I got her this nice Star costume too."
"I don't even know why we humor her," Spike said with a big sigh.
Then the lights went out. Spike let out another sigh. "Oldest trick in the book."
"Seriously," Starlight answered. "I've been away from normal pony society for years and even I know that lights randomly turning off is a weak way to make a scare."
"Alright," Twilight said. "Who did it? Fess up and I won't get angry."
"I don't think anyone's angry," Spike said. "We're just underwhelmed."
"Well it was underwhelming," Applejack responded.
"Is anyone going to fess up to this?" Twilight asked. "You know I have been told that I am a very lenient princess."
Spike looked around and shrugged. "I mean have you seen Ponyville?"
"Alright," Twilight said stomping her foot. "If none of you fess up to this there will be severe consequences.
"Wait," Starlight cried out. "Why don't we fix this with magic. Magic can fix everything." and in an instant Starlight's purple light filled the room. Everything was normal. Except there was a large package in the center of the room.
"What in tarnation is that?" asked Applejack. The crowd of ponies eased their way towards the package and looked over it from top to bottom.
"Hey look!" Pinkie Pie cried out. "It says it's to me!" she squealed and quickly shredded up the box only to find a very large megaphone inside. Her eyes lit up in the purple room. She grabbed the megaphone into her hooves and quickly yelled into it, "A super ultra deluxe super powerful megaphone? I always wanted one of these!" The loud shrieks of the megaphone echoed in the spacious party room. Of course the sound was turned up to as loud as possible causing all ponies in a 10 foot radius to lose their hearing. That happened to be all of them. The ponies all winced in pain and shook with fear as they now knew the true meaning of terror, Pinkie Pie with a really loud megaphone.
The day after Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked into Twilight's castle hoof and hoof. When they got in they saw four ponies and a dragon all with ice packs up against their ears. The last one, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be found. When Rainbow Dash walked in to see the sight she broke down into laughter.
"I fail to see what's so funny," Twilight snapped.
"Oh nothing. I'm just glad to see the trap we set up worked!"
"You did that?" Rarity cried out glaring at her. "How could you?"
"Well you all tried to scare me! So I decided to return the favor."
"Well that's because Pinkie wanted to turn the tables around. You scare her and the rest of the trick or treaters every year. She wanted to turn the tables and scare you back. If you ask me I think that's perfectly fair."
Fluttershy nodded. "You do say that you like being scared."
Rainbow nodded and looked away. "That's right. I do."
The rest of the cast all looked at her with looks of disbelief. However that moment was short lived as a giant Pinkie head appeared right behind Applejack. "Did you break a Pinkie promise?" she bellowed, her voice ringing into the large megaphone.
Applejack let out a whimper and shook in place. She now knew the true meaning of terror. Dealing with Pinkie Pie with a large megaphone when one breaks a Pinkie Promise. "Come on, it's not even Nightmare Night anymore!"
Pinkie quickly calmed down, shrunk to normal size, and nodded in agreement. "You're right. It doesn't matter anymore!" She then jumped in front of Rainbow Dash and dawned a large fake mustache which she twirled and stroked repeatedly.
"It was I who set up the scares!" Pinkie Pie cried out. She grinned and eyed her carefully. She then pulled out several photos and flashed them in Dash's face. "And I got pictures."
Dash could easily see her scared expression front and center on those pictures. She gasped and grasped feebly towards them. But Pinkie hid them too quick. "That was lots of fun. You all had really great ideas."
"Aw shucks," Applejack said.
"I mean it makes sense magic would scare her. Especially when it can't be explained," Starlight reasoned.
"I think it was my fire that did it," Spike added.
Rainbow sighed and crossed her hooves. Pinkie turned to Fluttershy and tilted her head. "So how was your Nightmare Night?"
Fluttershy blinked and carefully said. "Well it was too scary for my liking... But it was fun in it's own way." She then curled up into Rainbow Dash and nuzzled up against her side. "Ultimately I was just glad to spend the time with my marefriend. And getting closer than she usually wants to." She chuckled a bit at that joke.
Rainbow blushed and looked away. "Well it was the best way to protect you."
Fluttershy nodded into Rainbow's Dash's neck her fur teasing Dash's and tilted Rainbow's head to her. "Then protect me more."
Rainbow blushed. "I'll protect you as much as I can."
Fluttershy smiled and curled into her. "Alright. I'll be looking forward to it next year."
Author's Note
Heya everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this story for the 4th Flutterdash competition. When I first thought this up I thought it was going to be a lot more silly and a lot more funny, but it ended up being a lot more tense and a lot more sappy. Oh well I'm still reasonably satisfied, especially for something that I procrastinated on yet again. I have a bad habit. Also I am incapable not making sappy Flutterdash I guess. I always seem to have them being affectionate to each other.
Oh well. In the end I just gotta sing: I DON'T CARE!! I SHIP IT!!
Anyway again I hope you all enjoyed it. <3
