Chapter 1: Getting Ready for the Night
The air around Sunset Shimmer chilled her to the core. There was no snow, but the icy winds did well in making her teeth chatter as she walked down the streets of her neighborhood. Doing her best to ignore the cold and focus on her destination, her eyes wandered around, seeing the many shades of warm colored decorations that covered each and every house. Fitting for Halloween.
From brightly lit jack-o-lanterns of many shapes and sizes, to the many mechanical monsters, and the “frightening” decorations that wouldn't even scare a five year-old, she could only laugh at how enthusiastic people are compared to the ponies in Equestria when it comes to their holidays. When she wasn’t wondering how convenient it was that both worlds happen to have the same holiday with a different name, she was fascinated by how people can get so excited for any of these holidays.
She then finally reached Twilight’s rather large home, a place she’s been to numerous times, yet the decorations and change in scenery somehow unnerved her a bit. She still ignored the hanging skeletons, the giant spiders on cobwebs, and the creepy screams that blared out of a hidden speaker, and walked up the creaky steps towards the front door.
She then immediately stopped, feeling a sudden presence watching her. Someone giving her a cold glare of death even harsher than the winds that kept blowing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the would-be assailant as a masked figure branding a bloody knife at her, suddenly raising its hand and jumping at her, getting her immediate attention.
Sunset then realized that the figure was nothing more than a harmless animatronic. “Nice try Mr. Stabby, but you’ll need to try harder if you want to scare someone like me,” she smugly stated as she started knocking on the door. After several seconds of no sound from the opposite side, she attempted to open the door, only to step back and yelp when the door suddenly pushed forward with a large THUMP!
“Wh-what the...!”
There was a loud growl as the door forcefully opened to reveal a black and purple figure ferociously leap at her and let out a vicious roar.
After catching her breath and taking the moment to make sure she didn’t have a heart attack, she calmed down and recognized who opened the door. “...Oh, hey Spike!”
“Rawr! I mean, hey Sunset. Happy Halloween!”
Sunset knelt down and patted the cute dog on his head. “Happy Halloween to you too Spike, nice costume by the way.”
Spike woofed and did a turn to show off his completely black costume that featured two small spheres on each side of his head, decorated with angry dog faces, obviously drawn on lined paper with marker. “Ya like it? Twilight made it for me and said it’d make me super scary. She said I was...Ser...bor…as?”
Sunset giggled, “It’s called Cerberus, and it looks amazing on you. Speaking of Twilight...she’s upstairs right? I need to see if she’s ready to leave for Juniper’s Halloween Party.”
“Halloween Party? Ain’t it a bit too early for that?”
Sunset shrugged, “Don’t really know, but Juniper Montage invited us all to come to her uncle’s film studio again. She said that one of the film sets they used for a mystery movie is getting taken down, but she convinced them to keep it up for the weekend so she could host a murder mystery show.”
“That sounds so cool!” He stated wagging his tail. He then immediately stopped wagging as he realized something, “Wait...you said murder mystery show? As in someone gets murdered?!”
“Relax Spike, nobody really dies at these kinds of shows. It’s all just a fun fake play where we’re only pretending to solve a crime case. So no worries, alright?”
“Ooh...I get it. They must be like those horror movies Twilight’s too afraid to watch. I remember how Shining Armor keeps telling her how fake all those monsters and blood are. Still a bit scary though.”
“Yeah it is…” Sunset then looked at her watch to see that it was almost time, “the girls should be here pretty soon. Let’s go see how Twilight’s doing.”
Nodding, Spike showed her the way upstairs where Twilight was supposed to be. Down the hall they went, and the two could faintly hear the sound of Twilight spouting, “Oh no,” over and over, followed by the sound of cardboard bouncing around the floor. Spike gave a weary look at his human friend who was confused by the noise. “Uh...yeah, she’s been like that for a while.”
Curious, Sunset immediately opened the door which did proved to be a bit difficult as something soft blocked her from opening it wide open. With a little more force she tackled it with her shoulder, allowing her to see all clothes and cardboard boxes jumbled all across the floor, the room in total shambles. “Hey Twilight, everything all right in…”
“I’M NOT DECENT!!!”
“...here?”
Sunset looked to see Twilight in her bra and panties frantically looking around, holding different pieces of cloth she immediately used to cover her body. She was visibly shaking and sweating profusely, eyes twitching at the sight of the intruder. “Hasn’t anyone taught you to knock before entering?! You can’t just open a door when someone’s still undressed, it’s unethical!”
Sunset, calming down from the outburst, gave Twilight a small laugh, “You...know I’ve seen you naked before at Pinkie’s slumber party, right? Although, I think this is the first time I’ve seen that little mole on your…”
“DON’T!” she immediately yelled, throwing one of her clothes at Sunset’s face to shut her up. “Just say what you want and let me put on a shirt!”
Sunset rolled her eyes as she sat on the nearby bed, right after moving some clothes around. “Well then, I just came here to see if you were ready for the party since the girls are on their way here, but looking at you now, I can clearly see that you aren't ready. What exactly happened here?”
After finally putting on a covering t-shirt and taking a moment to compose herself, she sat right next to her friend with a sigh, “Sorry for the mess, I’ve been trying for the last hour to find a replacement costume. My Starswirl the Bearded costume I was going to use has been ruined!”
“Ruined?” Sunset asked curiously, “How’d it get ruined?”
Twilight groaned loudly, “You can thank Cerberus here for using my hat like a chew toy!”
The pet dog, while scratching his ear, gave his owner a wide-eyed apologetic stare, “Heh heh, sorry about that. I can’t resist when it comes to chewing stuff with bells.”
Twilight glared at her dog as she pointed her finger at him. “Bad dog! No candy for you!”
“Sorry Twilight…” Spike said lowering his head and sulking away to the other room.
Sunset gave off a bit of a chuckle. “Gotta give him credit,” she said as she picked up the hat and played with the the hat’s bells, “these are pretty fun to mess with.”
“That’s not the point!” Twilight said snatching the hat away. “My favorite costume of my favorite fictional figure is now ruined! I can’t just go out without the hat, it won’t be complete!”
“I guess you’re right,” Sunset pondered, “Rarity can definitely fix it no problem, but with all this damage, there’s no way she’ll be able to do it quick enough in for the party.”
“I know, and that’s why I’ve been trying to find a something I could use as a replacement. Unfortunately, finding something suitable for Halloween is much harder than I initially thought. I practically have nothing I could use as some sort of costume. Unless you consider my old Crystal Prep uniform a scary enough costume.”
“I see...and you don’t have anything else to wear?”
Twilight shook her head, “I wasn’t really into wearing anything else besides Starswirl. I have worn other stuff like this warrior princess costume when I was younger, but that’s about it really. I know...it’s kinda lame.”
Sunset realized that this situation her friend was in was the perfect opportunity for her idea. She gave a sly smile and said, “You know Twilight, I have something that might alleviate your little issue right here in this bag.”
Twilight looked back at her friend confused, “You do?”
She nodded, “For a couple months now, I’ve been discussing things with Rarity about costume ideas I want us to do together for Halloween. We’ve had a bit of back and forth when it came to designs and how complicated the outfit would be...but we eventually came to an agreement and I brought yours right here!” She held up her large bag, patting it for emphasis.
“That sounds great,” Twilight said with a wide smile, “if Rarity designed it, then it must be outright amazing, compared to something I’ve worn for years. Ooh, let me guess, am I dressing up as an amazingly smart yet mad and neglected scientist and you’re the monstrous creation made for destruction, but really has a soul of gold?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Um...no.”
“Then I know the perfect one for us, elements! Particularly the ones that are highly reactive to others. If I were to guess, I’d be going as potassium, and you’ll be water and oxygen. That’ll make for an...explosive combination right?”
“Nope, and you need to think of better costume ideas.”
“Hey!”
Sunset rolled her eyes, “Why don’t you just open this and find out?” Out of her bag, she pulled out a large orange and a purple box, labeled with their names to tell the difference. Handing Twilight’s her’s, she immediately opened her own to show a white robe with some orange accents. “Well...go ahead, open yours!
Eagerly curious about the contents, Twilight ripped apart the protective tape and opened up the top. She saw a dark purple cloth, soft and silky to the touch, she couldn’t help herself but enjoy the feeling of Rarity’s clothing between her fingers. She started to pull out the purple garb, where underneath it lied similar-colored gloves, stockings, and blue mask with a fiery motif.
She was rather confused by the overall design, not knowing what character this was supposed to be. Staring straight at the mask however, she felt a sense of familiarity that felt disturbing. It felt as if a killer just heard her breath a little too loudly, and their cold hands were inches away from her shoulder. Her eyes started to widen, as she suddenly heard a faint voice whisper in her mind, one she thought would never show up again.
“Midnight Sparkle's is a part of you! I'll always be there waiting in the darkest shadows of your mind!”
Twilight’s pupils dilated as she realized exactly who she was dressing as. She slowly looked at Sunset and whispered, “How could you…?”
“So what you think?” the oblivious friend casually asked, “Because I feel she did a pretty awesome job recreating it!”
“HOW COULD YOU BE ALRIGHT WITH THIS!?” she suddenly yelled out, definitely getting everyone in the room’s attention. “Are you insane!?”
“Y’know,” Sunset groaned out, rubbing her ears, “you don’t have a very good inside voice. Just saying.”
Twilight angrily stomped towards her friend, clutching the cloth in hand, “Sunset, don’t you know who this is?”
“I…”
“This is Midnight Sparkle! The monster that took over my body and tried to destroy the whole world! When I thought she came back when we were in Camp Everfree, I thought I was a goner; she was trying to take over my head and it nearly drove me insane! I can't believe you would suggest that I go out as this! What were you thinking!?”
Sunset scratched her head, expecting her to be adamant about this idea, but not this vocal, “Relax Twilight it’s not going to hurt you, it’s just a costume.”
Just a costume?” Twilight stared right at said costume, now being displayed on her bed. It was as if she actually kept the clothes even after she transformed back. “This looks exactly like the girl that tried to kill you and the others! You know...ME?!”
“Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I mean, I didn’t get a good look when we were fighting, but between me and Rares, we remembered what she looked like and were able to recreate it. It’s pretty spot on, and dare I say, looks awesome on you!”
The calm, but still on edge girl shook her head, “I don’t think looking like a magic-obsessed monster who attacked teenagers and gave me nightmares for months is awesome to me.”
Sunset smiled and chuckled awkwardly as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Okay, I guess it’s not that awesome, but once you get past the whole evil transformation and destroying the world to understand magic, I thought you looked pretty cool. and it’d be a neat look for you.”
Twilight did remember loving the look all that dark magic gave her, thinking back to how it was one of the first time she wore a strapless dress that only slightly showed off her cleavage. It did feel liberating, even if the rather sultry movements she was subconsciously doing made her slightly uncomfortable. She gave a faint smile, “I guess it did feel nice to take charge like that.”
She then shook her head, “But...I still felt horrible when was attacking everybody. It was only thanks to you guys that I was able to get over my fears and move on...but...to look like that monster again just feels wrong. Even if it’s just for Halloween.”
Sunset could never forget how terrifying she was, looking into Midnight’s eyes as she attacked everyone at the Friendship Games. The way she haphazardly opened portals to Equestria, the way she mortally endangered everyone. She shook away all those thoughts and started thinking of the present. “I understand Twi, I know I wouldn’t want to have her show up again in a million years, but look at it this way. You’ve conquered Midnight Sparkle and became a much more confident girl thanks to that. This costume is now a representation of the strength you have, defeating your fears as you wear the very symbol of the one who will never hurt you again!"
Twilight stayed silent for the entire time, then gave off a small laugh, “And how long did it take you to come up with a speech like that? Two minutes?”
“Eh, give or take a few seconds...” After a moment of silence, the two shared a laugh as the levity of the situation eased off of each other. After another minute however, Sunset gave her friend a more serious look and tone, “Listen Twilight, I understand if you don’t really want to do this. If wearing this costume makes you that uncomfortable, then maybe we could try looking for something else...or maybe we could stop by a store and get you a quick costume, anything else if you’d rather not wear this costume.”
Swallowing her nerves, she realized that there wasn’t really much else she could do if they want to make it in time. She gave Sunset a brave smile and nodded. “No, it’s fine. It’s like you said, it’s just a costume.”
Sunset grinned as she hugged her friend, “Thanks Twi, we’re gonna have a great time tonight!”
Twilight then thought about something else, “By the way, you never said anything about your costume. What are you going as?”
Sunset gave a sly smile, “Well Twilight, I gotta go with the theming here, so I have this!” She opened her box to reveal a fiery patterned dress, along with a matching wig, and fake tail. “I’m sure I told you about turning into a raging she-demon before, right?”
Twilight arched her eyebrows, her surprised stare making Sunset giggle, “Huh, you really want to go with this evil counterpart thing, huh?”
“Well, Rainbow is dressing up as the scariest thing she could think of, and this right here is pretty scary, right?” She then remembered to look at her watch again, realizing that a lot of time has already passed. “Shoot, the girls should be here any minute now! We gotta get dressed fast! Oh, the wings and the rest of the costume are in the bag.”
Before Twilight could say anything else, Sunset rushed out of her room and into the bathroom to change. Sighing, Twilight looked at her box, reached in, and grabbed the mask that accompanied it. Gazing into the plastic eyes that were once blazing with magic, she let out another sigh, as she picked up the dress and began taking off her t-shirt.
“...Might as well go along with this. Let’s just hope nothing happens that’ll make me regret putting this on.”
Author's Note
Ok so I know that by the time I finish this, it'll be November, i.e. not the scary month. But hey... at least it started around Halloween!
Trust me this one will be good...
Chapter 2: Costume Party
After inserting the fake fangs in her mouth, Sunset smirked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She glanced at her wig, and her fake wings, loving how both of them complimented the dress beautifully and overall made her feel like bad girl again. It almost made her want to go back to school and boss around the students just like old times.
“Almost…”
She left the bathroom and went down the hallway towards Twilight’s room. Quickly remembering what happened last time she barged in, she gave a small knock. “Hey Twilight, you done yet?”
“Just give me another minute please.”
“You sure you’re alright in there? It shouldn’t take this long to put that thing on.”
“I’m...just putting on the finishing touches here. I’ll be done before you know it.”
Sunset was just about ready to enter the room, until she suddenly heard a rhythmic knock on the door knowing exactly who it is. “Alright, but Rarity’s here and we’re not gonna be waiting for you all night!”
“Okay!” Behind the door, Twilight could hear her friend walking down the steps of the stairs to answer whoever was at the door. She gave a sigh of relief as she looked at her desk mirror to examine the dress she was now wearing. The dark outfit hugged her body firmly, and while it did felt nice to wear, there was still that hint of worry that Midnight was still there.
“Whoa, you look awesome Twilight.” Spike suddenly called out right behind her, still in his Cerberus costume.
Twilight blushed. “Thanks Spike, I’m glad you like it. Me on the other hand feel a bit dirty just having this on.”
“Come on Twilight, you look great! Besides are you really gonna let Midnight control your life like that?”
“Of course not. It’s just that…” Twilight looked back at the mirror. “I know we defeated Midnight long ago, but I also know magic always seem to come along and make things go awry at the worst of times. We’ve been attacked by people with magical items before, real powerful magic that put us all in danger. What if something like that happens again tonight?”
“You...really think that’s going to happen again? Not like you need to worry about magic all the time.”
“I guess you’re right...” Twilight slowly glanced down the vanity where she spotted the makeup that was packed along with the costume. Black eyeliner and violet lipstick, despite Sunset telling her that it’d look good on her, dark makeup made her feel a bit too dark. “But a Murder Mystery Party feels like the perfect opportunity for magic to ruin our night. Or worse, attack us and make solving a fake murder the least of our worries.”
Spike’s only response was to scratch his ear. “Well look at it this way, either you guys have a normal and fun night solving a fake crime, or you deal with some magic and beat it like you guys normally do. Either way, you guys will be just fine!”
“But what about…”
“Twilight, seriously, you need to lighten up. What’s the worst that can happen anyways?”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she looked back into the mirror and started applying the makeup. “A lot of things really, but I guess I have those guys to make things slightly easier.”
“Hey Rares, Happy Halloween!”
At the door, Rarity flipped her hair as she entered the home, “And a Happy Hallow’s Eve to you too darling. Oh, I just can't wait for Juniper’s little soiree tonight!”
Sunset smirked, “I can see that, you certainly look dressed for the part.”
“You like?” Dressed in a maroon and purple trench coat, matching boots and hat, while holding a magnifying glass, she did a full twirl showing her costume. “I’ve always wanted to dress up as my favorite childhood heroine, and this is the perfect opportunity! For tonight, you may refer to me as Shadow Spade...the fabulous detective!”
She let out a gleeful squeal. “This feels so astounding! I feel like a ten-year old child again!”
“Well it’s great to see that you’re enjoying yourself.” Sunset the gestured to herself. “Me on the other hand, I’m loving it! She then barred her sharp yet fake teeth. “What do you think of our little design? Cause I look, and feel like a badass!”
Rarity gave a slight gasp much to Sunset’s surprise. “Good heavens dear, I know we’ve planned this for quite some time, but to think you’d actually wear it with such bravado.” She then stepped around the girl, examining every bit of her hard work. “Though I must admit, you look absolutely stunning in that attire. I want to say that surprise even myself sometimes, but now I’m just losing my modesty points.”
Sunset nodded. “And Fluttershy? Isn’t she supposed to be with you?”
“Ah...yes,” Rarity said hesitantly, “the dear is with me, but she might take her time getting here. She’s still trying to get over her costume, despite the fact that it was her idea to wear it. She finds it embarrassing.”
Sunset scratched her head. “Oh come on Rarity, I know it’s Fluttershy but I’m sure whatever she’s wearing can’t be that bad.”
“Um...hello…”
Rarity turned around to the quiet voice of Fluttershy who was standing right behind her. “Fluttershy darling! You finally showed up, and may I remind you that you look positively fabulous.”
The girl gave a small smile as she stepped forward in front of Sunset. She was dressed in a snow white hooded cloak that seemed to be made of wrapped linen. However, it didn’t covered her arms or legs, and it exposed most of her belly, making for a rather sultry costume. “Do you like my costume Sunset.”
The pseudo-demon was utterly speechless by the bold choice the shy one of the group took, but gave off a prideful grin. “You look awesome Flutters, I’m pretty proud of you that your doing this.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I wanted to start being more brave so I can go out with you guys during Halloween. And not only will the m...murder mystery do that, but the others said that wearing this will be a good way of doing that too.”
“Well this is a pretty great first step. But now that you two are here, all we have to do now is wait for Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie. I just hope they don’t take any longer getting here than...”
Their conversation were interrupted by another group of knocks, this time much louder and more erratic than Rarity’s. “Well...speak of the Dashie.”
Sunset then opened the door only to be greeted not by Rainbow, but by an eagerly jumping Pinkie Pie, greeting her friends with a cheerful shout. “Trick or treat, smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!”
“Oh...there she is.” Fluttershy flatly stated.
“Hi guys!” Pinkie happily waved as she walked in. Rainbow Dash along with Applejack followed suit.
“Sup guys!”
“Howdy everyone!”
Sunset waved back, then immediately cringed when she heard Pinkie squeal with a loud shrill. “Ooohhh, look at all of you guys. We are all so ready for a night of spoopiness, candy, murder, sweets, and ALL THE CANDY WE CAN EAT!”
Rainbow scoffed out loud. “Did she mention that she likes candy, cause I missed it the last thousand times on the way here!”
“Now don’t ya be a rotten apple sugarcube.” Applejack stated placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Pink's just excited about tonight. Heck, being apart of these kind of fancy murder plays real exciting for a country gal like me!”
“But it’s not even Halloween yet!”
“Silly Dashie, everyday in October is Halloween!”
“That’s not the point Pinks…”
Sunset coughed in her fist to stop anymore arguing from continuing. “So guys, while we’re still waiting for Twilight to finish up there, mind telling us about your costumes?”
Applejack immediately gave a smile. “Well when ya’ll said to be the scariest thing I could think of, I knew I had to dress up as a werewolf.” She was dressed in ripped up shirt and jeans covered in fur. She wore gloves and shoes made to look like wolf claws, and a hood with ears covered in fur.
“You’re scared of werewolves?” Fluttershy suddenly asked.
Applejack nodded. “Eeyup. Been that way since I was a kid, back when Granny told me how wolves would howl at night during the harvest. Heck, they may be the only thing that scares me to this day. Besides my worry that the Apple family won’t survive with all this modern technology, but I ain’t sure how to dress like that.”
“Okay…” Sunset responded. She then glanced back at Pinkie, her eyes wondering all over her costume as she tried to process what she was looking at. She gave a long sigh. “Pinkie, please tell me you got today’s date wrong...by like seven months.”
Pinkie gave Sunset a confused stare, “What makes you say that?”
Sunset shook her head as she gestured towards Pinkie’s costume, “Why are you dressed up as a leprechaun on Halloween?!”
Pinkie looked up at the green top hat, then down at her green suit, gold scarf, and plaid shirt. She then glanced at her white knee-high socks and wooden clogs. She then began to give out a rowdy laugh. “Silly Sunny, I’m not dressed up as any old leprechaun. I’m dressed up as The Leprechaun.
“...The Leprechaun?”
“Me and Dashie been watching a lot of horror movies for the past two weeks and that guy’s my favorite monster. He was so funny, and super scary, so I thought to myself, ‘hey Pinkie, this would be the funniest, and scariest costume you could do’. So here I am!” She crookedly pointed at Sunset and started speaking in a gruff Irish accent, “There’s a girl who once was a horse, who turned to be a great friend of course. But no matter what you say, you can’t make her neigh, but at least she’s still good at horseplay!
She then laughed and started doing a small jig and singing a little tune, “Lep in the hood, come to do no good. Lep in the hood, come to do no good. Lep in the hood, come to do...no...good!”
Sunset gave a ‘seriously?’ glance right back at Rainbow, who’s only response was a shrug. “Tried a hundred times to tell her to pick an ACTUAL horror movie villain, but you know how Pinkie gets. I just had to buy that damn collection for her.”
“Uh...huh…” Sunset then glanced down at Rainbow’s costume, “and what about you, got a new job and thought the uniform was good enough.”
Rainbow puffed out her chest in defiance. “This ain’t a uniform hot-head!” She then branded her wrench and gestured towards the others. “Killed in a welding accident due to the negligence of his careless coworkers, he was resurrected from the dead, his thirst for vengeance endless. Now every year on the day of his death, he comes back from the grave killing all who stands in his way through the most brutal ways possible.”
She then finished by placing the mask over her face as metaphoric lightning crashed for emphasis behind her. “You can call me...Jasper Dyers!”
The room was silent as Rainbow was anticipating some sort of positive response. Pinkie clapped enthusiastically, Fluttershy cowered behind a couch, while the others stood their unimpressed at the costume.
Rainbow immediately lifted the cover. “Oh come on guys, I worked hard on this one! Least you could do is be impressed.”
Rarity was first to talk. “We’d...be more impressed if you didn’t borrow your cousin’s...rather gaudy work outfit.”
Applejack was next. “And you didn’t spent the last couple a-weeks saying how ‘totally awesome’ yer costumes gonna be.”
Rainbow scratched her head. “Okay fair enough, but I’m definitely the scariest of the bunch. Unlike you guys.”
“What’s so scary about some killer construction worker?” Sunset pondered out loud.
“Oh...poor naïve Sunset, you have no idea what he’s capable of.” She then showed off her toy wrench. “He used this bad boy to break a blonde ditz’ legs to keep her from running, then bash her skull in until it was nothing but mush!”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but flinch in disgust and fear. “Oh...my…”
She then branded her fake blowtorch. “And with this...oh this is that good shit!” She said with a malicious grin. “He once shoved this bad boy up some poor sap’s throat, lit it up and melted his whole head like a marshmallow. You saw the eyes pop out, the brain matter creep down his ears, and his hair...”
“GOOD HEAVENS RAINBOW DASH!” Rarity blurted out, her voice nearly cracking as she covered her mouth. “Don’t you ever say that ever again! I can not believe you’d be inclined to dress as some barbaric disgusting murder with zero class!”
“Yeah that was less scary and more...disturbing…” Sunset responded with cringing.
“Honestly Rainbow,” Applejack piped shaking her head, “I may be impressed, but that just ain’t right.”
“Hey come on guys!” The fake killer pleaded. “It’s not like I’ll be doing any of that gory stuff. The wrench and the blowtorch are both fake anyways so chill out!”
Applejack rolled her eyes. She then glanced back at Sunset. “Anyway, what in tarnation is taking Twilight so long? Don’t she know we’d be leaving by now?”
“Okay guys here I am!”
Right before Sunset could say anything she turned towards the stairs to where the new voice was. A second later, Twilight stepped down, revealing to everyone the complete Midnight Sparkle costume she was now sporting. As she wiped away some of her excess makeup, she took four more steps until she finally joined the others. “Well, here I am.”
Sunset whistled at the sight of the costume, her expectations amazingly met. “Now there’s the evil Twi I wanted to see. So how’s the costume Twilight? Cause you look, and bet you feel like a badass!”
She gave a small nervous chuckle. “I certainly look and feel the part, though not sure I can really call myself a...badass.”
“Are you kidding me Twilight?!” Pinkie exclaimed jumping right in front of her. “You totally look like a super evil, super scary bad guy! But in a good way!
“Why of course she looks like a bad guy Pinkie,” Rarity chimed in, “, I made sure to keep that villain aesthetic from back then. And dare I say it, Twilight looks deliciously vicious!”
“You do look rather mean,” Fluttershy remarked, “but in a good way really.”
“Wow...you guys really like it?”
“Sure nuff! Didn’t really like that Midnight fella, but if it’s just you then it’s fine by me.” Applejack proudly stated.
Rainbow was next to speak. “Yeah Twi, really digging the look. In fact, come on and give us an evil speech. Say something only an evil bitch like Midnight would say!”
Twilight looked among her friends who were eagerly awaiting her next line. “Um...I don’t know...maybe something like.” She then raised her fist and pointed towards her friends as she spoke in a deeper tone. “Foolish mortals! You dare to challenge the mighty Midnight Sparkle? My powers will make you regret the day you challenged me! HA HA HA HA HA!”
“...Er...something like that?”
The girls all gave various groans of mixed reactions. Rarity was the one who spoke first. “It was rather satisfactory...I think I’ll give it a seven.”
“Out of a hundred maybe!” Rainbow chuckled.
Twilight crossed her arms out of embarrassment. “Was it that bad?”
“It wasn’t that it was bad,” Sunset genuinely said, “it’s just that when we fought Midnight she was more cruel, sassy bitch, and less generic galactic ruler.”
Twilight facepalmed. “Can we just go to the murder house now?”
“Hey Uncle! Is everything all set for tonight?”
Juniper’s Uncle, Canter Zoom, stumbled into the set’s dinner where his niece resided. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“Yeah but I need some extra eyes around the place. I need just about everything to be perfect here, and I’ll keep triple checking until I make sure everything’s in place.”
Canter shook his head as he looked around the dining hall. He was instantly reminded of the many hours he spent working with Juniper putting together all the clues everyone will have to find to solve the murder, busting his back as he was told exactly where every piece of evidence was meant to be. The mansion set was full of hidden compartments, trap doors, and many secrets reused from the Shadow Spade movie.
Canter smiled as he loved every minute he spent with her niece. “I gotta say Juniper, you’ve really done a great job sprucing up the place. You must be very proud of yourself.”
Juniper turned to her uncle with a wide smile. “Well of course I am! Hosting something like this has always been one of my dreams. And if I can’t be the real Daring Do...then I’ll dedicate myself to making this the best Murder Mystery I can!”
Juniper looked around the movie set and smiled at all the work she put in. “I spent weeks making the perfect murder for them to solve. It’ll be the perfect blend of both suspense and intrigue, forcing them to work together and use their brains to the fullest. It will be my greatest work in the world of theatre!”
“...You know I’m starting to think you’re using this as a chance to take my job and make your own Daring Do movie.”
Juniper nearly tripped as she turned to face her Uncle. “N...no that’s not it! I just...you know…”
Canter gave a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry I’m just kidding. I’m very proud of all the work you’ve done after the whole ‘almost ruined the movie ‘cuz you wanted the lead part’ debacle you put yourself through.”
“Oh that old thing?! I was just...not in the greatest of...moods.”
“And I’m glad that you’ve matured from that.” He said placing his hand on her shoulder, eliciting a heartfelt smile from the both of them. “Which is why I’m entrusting this set to you and your friends. All of this is yours to do what you want, so enjoy it all while it’s still here. Just be careful and try not to break anything, we still need this thing in one piece.”
Juniper then gave a two-fingered salute. “Aye aye, sir!”
“And make sure none of this ‘magic’ stuff happens around my set. I know I don’t need to tell you that, but just make sure those rumors about those girls shooting magic beams don’t happen around here.”
Juniper’s mind immediately went back to when she wielded that magic powered mirror, transformed into a giant monster and nearly killed her new friends. A shudder came down her spine as she pushed those memories aside to focus on the now. “Don’t worry, if anyone knows how to keep magic in check, it’s those guys!”
Canter nodded as he started making his way towards the exit. “Well it seems you have everything under control here. Why don’t we wait for your friends up front huh?”
“Let me just finish up here and I’ll meet you there.” As she continued her survey of the set, she felt a faint colorful flash appear near the dinner’s entrance. She quickly turned and ran towards the door, wondering if someone was in here and had a flashlight with them. However all she saw was the bowl of candy she had saved for them. After a couple more seconds of looking, she shrugged and went back to work.
“Guess it was just my imagination.” She calmly said doing her best to stop the shaking in her feet.
Author's Note
So...if anyone's still interested in this, I'll keep writing this story. But I'm starting to think writing a Halloween story after Halloween is a really bad idea.
