When Diamond Tiara had accepted the invitation to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders for their Nightmare Night celebrations, she’d never considered their evening of carefree costumed fun would end with them standing before the imposing, fog shrouded gates of Ponyville Cemetery. “So… what’s this game called again?”
“Ghost in the Graveyard.” Sweetie Belle stepped forward and pushed on the iron gate. It swung open noisily, the metal creaking echoing in the still night air. The little unicorn looked back at her former nemesis with a smile, one made less than reassuring thanks to her intricate Nightmare Moon costume’s false fangs.
“And you promise that this isn’t some long planned revenge scheme to scare the daylights out of me?” Diamond Tiara shivered in her simple Coloratura attire, feeling silly in the very nice but very normal blouse and skirt. She had lost the coin flip that had decided whether she or Silver Spoon would get to dress up as the more gaudy ‘Countess’ persona of Equestria’s number one pop star, but her best friend’s victory had proved to be pyrrhic once she came down with a head cold the night in question. “Because I thought we were friends now.”
“We are friends.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and scratched at the light blue wig that topped her Cozy Glow outfit. “That’s why you’re the first pony we’ve invited to play this with us. We do it every year.”
“Right. So, here’s the rules.” Apple Bloom sat on her haunches before the gate, her Queen Chrysalis costume already starting to show the inevitable wear and tear from a night of fun and candy-seeking. “You’re it.”
“Why am I it?”
“Because this is your first time playin.’ Now hush and save the rest of your questions until the end.” Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “Now, like I said; you’re it. When we tell you to, you’re gonna run off into the cemetery and find a place to hide while the three of us count to one hundred. After we’re done countin,’ we’ll come find you. Whichever one of us finds you has to yell ‘Ghost in the Graveyard!’ That’s the signal for the other two to start runnin’ back to the gate. The one that finds you is safe, so you have to chase and catch the other two before they make it back here. Whoever you catch first becomes the next ghost. Easy, right?”
“What if I don’t catch anypony?”
“Then you’re the ghost again. But I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Sweetie Belle has a bad habit of getting’ lost in the fog.”
“Which is super weird considering she’s the only one of us with a built in flashlight.” Scootaloo muttered.
“I… I get flustered.” Sweetie Belle stammered.
Apple Bloom laughed and looked at Diamond Tiara. “So… questions?”
Diamond Tiara considered. “This all just sounds like tag with extra steps.”
“Wrong!” Apple Bloom pointed a hoof dramatically, her cardboard horn wilting. “It’s hide and seek with extra steps!”
Diamond Tiara chuckled. “And you three play this every year?”
“Yup.” Scootaloo trotted towards the gate and peered into the darkness. “Since we became friends.” She looked back and winked. “And now that you’re our friend, you get to play too.”
“Great.” She said sarcastically. “This is easily in the top five best parts of becoming friends with you.” Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and looked at the sky. The full moon was emerging from the clouds, casting a ghostly silver light upon the fog. “So… when do I go?”
“Soon as we start countin.’” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had already joined Scootaloo by the gate and were looking pointedly at the stone wall. “Ya’ll ready?”
“As I’m gonna be.” Diamond Tiara murmured, stretching herself and getting ready to run.
“And… GO!” The three fillies shouted as one.
Diamond Tiara bolted into the fog. She dodged and weaved her way through the tombstones, straining her eyes in the moonlight to see as best as she was able. By day, the Ponyville Cemetery wasn’t terribly large. One could easily find their way through the numerous tombstones and cross from one end of the boneyard to the other in a less than fifteen minutes. But at night, with a carpet of fog and the pitch black of the night?
It felt endless.
Diamond Tiara paused to catch her breath and looked around to try and find her bearings. She hadn’t been in the graveyard since her grandmother had passed away several years before, and she had no idea of the place’s geography barring a passing glance as he walked by it on the way to someplace else. The grave markers all looked the same in the dark, like stone ships floating upon a sea of glowing moonlight. Deciding that she’d run far enough, she hunkered down beside a plain, tall marker and settled in to wait.
She stopped panting, and was suddenly aware of how deadly quiet the night was. No cricket song, no wind… nothing. It was still and silent in the cemetery… and Diamond Tiara began to feel very alone.
And very afraid.
Her mind nagged that maybe, just maybe, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were indeed playing a prank on her. Not maliciously, of course, but wasn’t good natured pranking a beloved tradition of Nightmare Night? She could see them now, laughing and waiting for her at the gates to realize that there was no traditional game in the graveyard. She’d just wait a while, and then find her way out by following the Crusader’s laughter. She’d join in and they’d all have a laugh while they retired for the evening to sort out their haul of sweets and treats.
But how she hoped she wouldn’t have long to wait in this dark place. How many bones of past Ponyvillians were laid to rest under her hooves? How many had been so long in the dark and in the dirt that they were now less than even bone and were but simple dust?
How long had it been since the game had begun? Maybe she should just start back now…
“Hi!”
Diamond Tiara barely stifled a scream as she rounded on the voice that had startled her. It came from an earth pony filly, the same age as she was by the look of her. Her coat was a mystical mint, and her long mane was dull silver. Her piercing blue eyes laughed as her mouth followed suit. Diamond Tiara was decidedly not amused. “That wasn’t funny!”
“Sorry.” The filly giggled again. “I guess we’re all entitled to one little scare on Nightmare Night.” She extended her hoof. “I’m All Bright.”
Diamond Tiara swallowed hard to steady her nerves before meeting the offered hoof with her own. “Diamond Tiara.”
All Bright looked her over. “I like your costume. Are you supposed to be a vampony?”
“Thanks. I’m actually Countess Coloratura in her modern phase. It would be more obvious if my friend was here…”
“Countess who?” All Bright raised an eyebrow.
“Coloratura? The singer?” Noting the filly’s confused expression, she shook her head. “She’s famous.”
“Sorry, I don’t get out much.” She breathed deep and sighed in contentment. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”
“Sure.” Diamond Tiara peeked around the tombstone and looked around for any approaching Crusaders. “Just wish I wasn’t spending it in the cemetery.”
“Oh, but the cemetery’s wonderful.” All Bright sighed as she caressed the tombstone that was Diamond Tiara’s shelter. “It’s so quiet and peaceful. It’s the perfect place to just lie down and take a rest…”
Now it was Diamond Tiara’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.” She muttered suspiciously as she looked the filly over, trying to place her. “I don’t think we’ve met. Are you from Ponyville?”
All Bright nodded eagerly. “Oh, yes. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s a wonderful little town.”
“It’s okay, I guess.” Diamond Tiara spared another look back the way she’d come. She spotted what might have been a shadow in the fog, but she blinked and it was gone.
“Are you looking for somepony?” All Bright asked, looking in the same direction.
Diamond Tiara sighed and sagged against the stone. “Yeah, my friends invited me to play this game…”
All Bright gasped in delight. “I love games. How do you play this one?”
Deciding that her pursuers were still a good distance away, Diamond Tiara quickly filled her new acquaintance in on the basic rules of Ghost in the Graveyard. “And whoever the ‘ghost’ catches, that pony becomes the ‘ghost’ in the next round.”
All Bright cocked her head. “And if the ghost doesn’t catch anypony?”
Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Then they have to try again on the next round. That’s how Apple Bloom explained it to me, anyway.”
All Bright thought about it for a moment. “…this all just sounds like tag with extra steps.”
“I know, right!” Diamond Tiara laughed and fell back against the stone. Her weight caused it to shift slightly and she jumped up before it could tip over. “Whoops…”
“You need to be more careful. Messing with the markers is against the rules.” All Bright had stopped laughing. She now looked deadly serious.
“What rules?”
“The rules of the cemetery. They’re very simple, but very strict.” All Bright walked around the stone and pushed it back up right. “Don’t tip over a tombstone, don’t disrespect the dead… those kind of things. If you break the rules, you pay the price.”
Diamond Tiara suppressed a shudder at the flat way the filly had said ‘pay the price.’ “How do you know all this?”
“My papa used to be the caretaker here. He told me all about the rules. He always told me that so long as you obeyed the rules, the cemetery held no danger.”
“Danger?” Diamond Tiara smiled uncomfortably. “What kind of danger?”
All Bright’s smile was back like a switch had been flipped. “Never mind that. Can I play your game with you? It’s been so long since I got to play a good graveyard game.”
“Uh… sure?” Diamond Tiara had nearly forgotten about the game in progress. “But you’ll probably have to wait for the next round.”
“That’s fair.” All Bright gasped and giggled. “Hey! Can I help you find a better hiding place?”
Diamond Tiara considered. This filly was strange, but she seemed to know more about the cemetery than she did. She nodded. “Lead the way.”
“Come on!” All Bright set off at a brisk trot.
Diamond Tiara hurried after her, which was no easy feat. The filly clearly knew her way around the boneyard. Her footing was so swift and sure that she almost seemed to float above the mists. She dodged around tombstones like she was one of the ambient shadows, and she hummed a melody Diamond Tiara didn’t recognize as they carried on.
“Not many ponies know this, but the cemetery’s actually laid out in a series of circles. The further in you go, the older the graves are.”
“So where are we going?”
“To the dead center.” She giggled at the joke. “To the first grave in Ponyville history. Your friends will have the hardest time finding you there.”
Diamond Tiara couldn’t argue with that logic. She was opening her mouth to ask why she hadn’t seen the filly in school before when she nearly ran into the stopped form of her new friend. “What’s going on? Are we there already?”
“Nope. But you said one of your friends was named Apple Bloom, right?” She pointed a hoof at a large headstone with two equine silhouettes etched into the surface.
Diamond Tiara leaned in and read the inscribed names in the moonlight. “’Bright Mac and Buttercup. The Perfect Pair. Beloved Parents.’” She looked with a sort of awe at the resting place of Apple Bloom’s parents. Withered, old flowers lay at the base of the stone. “Apple Bloom never talks about them.”
“Really? She and her family are very devoted. I see them come and visit when the apple trees blossom. They always bring the loveliest gifts.”
“So, do you just hang out in the graveyard for fun, or…?”
But All Bright was already gone. She danced between the stones with practiced ease, the fog swirling around her like a milky gown.
Diamond Tiara hurried to follow, then noticed the light becoming dimmer. She glanced up and saw the moon vanishing behind a cloud. “All Bright, wait up! I can’t see!”
“We’re almost there!” All Bright called back, her voice sounding farther and farther away.
Diamond Tiara could barely see the filly’s coat as the darkness encroached further. Her trot became a run, and she silently prayed that she wouldn’t run headlong into a tombstone in the dark. “All Bright!” She called again, but there was no response. She heard other voices, though, and saw a faint violet light just ahead. She altered direction slightly and made for the light. The voices became clearer the closer she got.
“I told you this was a dumb idea.”
“No you didn’t. You said it was a fun idea.”
“You had candy corn in your ears!”
Diamond Tiara skidded to a halt when she found the source of light. “Snips? Snails? What are you two doing all the way out here?”
The two colts were sitting beside an aged, moss covered tombstone. Time and weather had scrubbed the surface clean of any mark. Before them sat a board covered in letters and numbers. Each colt had a hoof on a small glass resting on the board. Snails’ horn was lit to provide some form of light. “Hey Diamond Tiara!” Snails waved with his free hoof, smiling in his bemused way. “Did you come to talk to the ghosts too?”
Snips rolled his eyes. “I told you before; there aren’t any ghosts out here. We could’ve at least brought our candy…”
Diamond Tiara looked around, noting the circles of stones that seemed to radiate out from the marker the colts were sitting by. “This must be the center…” She muttered. She looked back at the two. “Did you guys see a filly run by here?”
“Nope. Only filly we’ve seen is you.” He looked down at the board. “Those older ponies told me this would work.”
“They were pulling your leg, man.”
Snails shook his head. “No, that can’t be it. We did what they said. We found the oldest grave in the cemetery, we brought the board… They said that Nightmare Night was the one night that the dead could talk.” He tapped his chin. “Or was it ‘the one night the dead can walk?’”
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Why were you here anyway?” Snails asked.
“Just playing a stupid game.” Diamond Tiara gave one last look around the clearing and sighed. “Let’s just go.”
“I’m for that.” Snips stood and stretched. “Get me out of this lame, cold, and old boneyard.” He sniffed and looked back at the old tombstone. “Stupid way to spend Nightmare Night…”
Diamond Tiara saw what he meant to do and reached out. “Wait…!”
Too late. Snips bucked with his back legs. The old tombstone broke in half, the top smashing to the earth and causing the fog to split like water.
A cold wind rushed past Diamond Tiara and she felt All Bright behind her before she heard her voice. “That wasn’t very nice.”
Snails saw the filly and smiled. “Hey there! Are you playing a game too?”
“Oh, I’ve played all sorts of graveyard games.” All Bright’s voice was that same flat monotone it had been when she’d explained the rules of the cemetery. “I’ve been playing them for years. In fact, the fillies and colts of Ponyville used to always come out on Nightmare Night to play with me. All they had to do was follow the rules.” The filly walked past Diamond Tiara, who shivered. The very air around her was freezing. “A few years ago, one little filly broke the rules. Of all the ponies, she should have known better. Her father was the caretaker, after all. Still, I couldn’t play favorites. She had to pay the price. Ever since then, the fillies and colts don’t come around much anymore. I thought that this year, maybe if I looked like her, then maybe they’d trust me again. Come play with me again. It took me years of watching those three fillies to know they could be trusted. But it doesn’t matter, does it? Because there will always be bad little fillies and colts who break the rules. And if you break the rules, you pay the price.” All Bright reached the broken stone and lay down beside it.
Snips and Snails backed away towards Diamond Tiara. The moon was emerging from the cloud now, casting its light upon the fog and returning some semblance of light to the dark. The pink filly swallowed hard. “What… who are you?”
“I was the first.” All Bright murmured as the fog began to glow and started swirling around her. “The first to die. The first to be laid to rest. And since I was the first to consecrate the earth, it became my job to ensure that those who came after me enjoyed their rest. It’s not a job I asked for, but it’s one I’ve done to the best of my ability for the past one hundred years or so.”
Despite the chill in the air, Snips chuckled. “A hundred years? You don’t look a hundred years old.”
All Bright’s eyes flashed at him, the piercing blue shrinking into deep voids of black. The unearthly glow of the fog began to shine from her sockets. “You’re the one who broke the rules.” Her voice became deeper, raspier. She smiled and her skin began to sag around her skull. Her mane started falling out in clumps, leaving her scalp nearly bare and patchy with mold. “So now you’ll pay the price.” The fog washed over her fully, sparing the young ponies from having to see the mint coat beginning to rot and fall away…
Apple Bloom leaped out of the darkness, landed in front of Diamond Tiara, and pointed a victorious hoof. “Ha! Found ya! Ghost in the Graveyard!”
The thing that had been All Bright exploded from the ground, now a horrifying thing with the bare skull of a pony and cloaked in the silvery, moon-soaked fog. It shrieked at the little ponies and lunged for them with claws made of earth and bone. Long snake-like tendrils of fog danced in the air and reached with terrifying speed.
The ponies, Apple Bloom included, screamed and bolted away as fast as they were able.
Diamond Tiara ran at the fastest speed that her small body was capable of. She leapt over some stones while dodging around others. She grunted as she bumped against a short tombstone and winced when she felt her dress rip. She didn’t look back or around to see who was close to her, not even to see whether the others were keeping pace. She just had to keep running, had to keep going, had to reach…
The gates!
Scootaloo was already there, a victorious smirk on her face that faded when she saw the terrified look on Diamond Tiara’s face. “What…?”
Diamond Tiara tackled her, driving her beyond the threshold of the cemetery. The two ponies rolled to a stop and Diamond Tiara jumped to her feet, panting. She looked back at the fog shrouded gates at last and watched as Apple Bloom and Snails came barreling out. They skidded to a halt beside the other two, breathing just as hard. Diamond Tiara did a quick head count. “Where’s…” She tried to catch her breath. “Where’s Snips? And Sweetie Belle?”
Apple Bloom’s eyes got wider and she looked back at the gates. “That clumsy filly! What if she tripped on a tombstone and…?”
There was a glow coming from the fog now. It grew brighter and brighter, and Diamond Tiara began to wonder if maybe they needed to keep running. Maybe the thing that was after them couldn’t be contained by some flimsy iron gates…
The glow became blinding…
…and Sweetie Belle jumped from the fog with a proud grin. Her smile faded when she saw the others. “Oh come on!” She spat out her fangs and pouted. “You mean to tell me that I used my light and I still lost?!” Two tendrils of fog suddenly emerged from the thick carpet coating the ground, wrapped themselves around the gates, and slammed them shut behind her. Sweetie Belle gave a little scream as she jumped and ran to the others.
The five little ponies lay together in various states of terror and confusion. Scootaloo looked from the gates to Apple Bloom. “What in the hay was that all about?”
Apple Bloom could only shake her head. The motion caused the flimsy cardboard horn to finally give up the ghost and fall to the ground. She looked to Diamond Tiara, hoping for some kind of explanation.
Snails blinked slowly, and then also looked at the rich filly. “Where’s Snips?”
Diamond Tiara looked past the gates, into the fog and the darkness, and imagined she saw a shadow racing along the tombstones. She blinked, and it was gone. “The rules…”
“What?”
“Those are the rules, aren’t they? She got him, so now he’s it.” She looked up at the moon and breathed in the still, cool air, letting it soothe her ravaged lungs. It really was a beautiful night. All Bright had been right about that. “Now he’s the ghost in the graveyard.”
