There weren't many things Rainbow Dash loved more than flying, the only thing that could even come close was pranking ponies. There wasn't a much better time for that than Nightmare Night, a whole holiday meant to be spooky and scary. It would come as no surprise to anypony who knew her that it was her favorite holiday. Every year she would dress in a terrifying costume and scare which ever ponies were unfortunate enough to fall into her cross hairs. This Nightmare Night she planned on going all out for the scares.
Rainbow Dash was nearly finished with her costume, she gave a quick glance from her cloud home’s window and looked toward Ponyville. The sun was setting over the horizon, the bright orb being replaced by the eerie glow of the moon. If she looked close enough at the town, she could just make out the small glowing faces of the jack-o-lanterns, the effect made it appear to be a horde of small demons ready to run about the peaceful town bringing with them mischief and fright, tricks and treats. She shivered gently from the cool Autumn night breeze. She looked from the window to her mirror, her costume had exceeded her expectations.
She looked amazing!
Her costume consisted of a ripped and tattered buttoned up flannel shirt and dark pants, usually, she hated covering herself with so much clothing but this was important, she had to hide her rainbow tail. One quick glance at it and her cover would be blown. Her mane was another trait she would have to hide, that was to be done by her last part of her costume. A mask made from a burlap sack with two eye holes cut out would cover her mane entirely, preventing her from being recognized by anypony. She then went through her saddlebags to make sure she had everything she needed. Once she finished she slid the bags onto her back.
‘This might be the best prank I’ve ever came up with.’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself.
In the distance she heard a group of foals chant the mantra known by all colts and fillies.
"Nightmare Night, what a fright!"
"Give us something sweet to bite!"
Rainbow glided over Ponyville quietly, hoping to not give herself away. Her eyes scanned the streets below her, ponies of all ages were trotting about, most making their way to the Nightmare Night party in town square. She couldn’t risk scaring anyone there and having her cover blown to most of the town. She had to find somepony by themself. She flew across the sky and toward the edge of the town, where there was hardly any light from street posts or the celebration in town square.
She looked up and down the street, there was hardly anypony in the nearby homes, most, at this point were gathering for the party. She could set up her prank without having to worry about being caught. It was then that her eyes landed on a scarepony that was stuck into the ground by a wooden post, an old torn coat was put over the straw made body, it was next to a lawn of one of the houses. To most ponies it would only be a piece of decoration for the holiday but to Rainbow, it was a perfect addition to her prank. After a close examination she noticed it was held to the post by nails hammered into the pony of straw. Taking it into her hooves she pulled at it for a few moments but had no luck yanking it free. Thinking for a moment her mind lit up with an idea. Holding the top of the post in her front hooves she used her left hindleg to press down on the post.
The post wasn’t very thick so it wouldn’t take much force to snap it, she pulled while holding down the post and it began to splinter before finally snapping in half leaving the part still in the ground with a point. She dragged the straw pony down the alley and to a darker section of it, she arranged it so that if a pony were to walk down the alley they would see what looked to be a body laying in the dirt.
She then dug into her bag and pulled out a bottle of ketchup and began to pour it on and around the scarecrow to act as blood. Lastly she pulled out a plastic knife she had bought a few days earlier from a toy store. Looking over her ‘crime scene’ she snickered to herself proud of her own genius, after slipping on the mask she hid in the bushes and waited for her victim.
It had been nearly an hour since she had hid and Rainbow Dash was beginning to worry if this prank was going to be all for nothing. Her ears perked up at the sound of hoofsteps, holding her breath, she listened closely, they were coming her direction. She stepped from the bush and peeked from a nearby street corner, in the darkness, she could make out a stallion. Quickly, she raced back to the bush and hid within it. Holding back giggles, she slipped the mask back on before peeking from the bush.
A few moments passed and the pony stepped past the bush. It was dark, but she could see he had a light brownish coat with a brown mane. She had seen him walk about the streets of Ponyville, if she could remember correctly, his name was Caramel but that didn’t matter, all that mattered was the prank.
She watched as he stepped closer toward the ‘body’ and let out an audible.
“What the…”
Quietly, she stepped out of the bush, barely making a noise, she tip-toed up behind him. Shaking as he looked at the straw pony he stepped back until he backed against Rainbow, making him jump. He turned slowly, his pupils shrunk as he laid eyes on her in her costume, she raised the plastic knife as he let out a scream before sprinting away from her. She chased after him, if she wanted to, she could easily catch up to him, but she only wanted to tail him, only for a few more moments before she landed in front of him and let out a loud…
“Gotcha!”
Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, Rainbow, startled, screeched to a halt. He stood, unmoving, a small cough began to emanate from the stallion. Cautiously, she stepped towards the stallion. Even in the low light she could see a dark liquid dripping down the pony. As she stepped to his side her heart dropped.
The broken wooden pole used to hold the scarecrow had punctured deep into the throat of the stallion. His eyes stared straight ahead wide and his pupils little more than pin pricks. His mouth twitching with short and fast gasps. As more and more blood pooled in his throat the choked coughs became gasps then gurgles. Rainbow slowly removed her mask as she began to feel sick to her stomach.
The stallion’s eyes turned to her. As he began to enter a stake of shock a faint look of confusion appeared on his face. Then recollection. As Rainbow stared into his wide eyes she began to notice Caramel’s eyelids stop blinking. The look of life slowly drifted away from his eyes as Rainbow was trapped in the dead gaze of the stallion.
Author's Note
Happy early Halloween everybody! This story has been in the works for sometime, since last October to be exact. Sorry about the quick ending, I couldn't really think of a good way of ending this story in a way besides this one, I know this probably isn't my best work but this story has pretty much just been collecting digital dust and since Halloween is so close I figured just post it and see how it goes, but anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! If you have any constructive criticism I'd love to hear it.
