“Yer’ sure about this, Shug?” Applejack asked, exchanging a pensive look with Rarity and Twilight as she did.

“I’m not just ‘sure’, I’m super-duper sure!” She sang, unfurling a large, checkerboard blanket and laying it flat across the cool, autumn ground.

“Cause’, y’know, Dash, Rare’n me would be pleased as punch t’have ya’ come along with us.”

“Or you could help me hand out candy.” Fluttershy added.

“I know that, ya’ bunch of sillies.” She laughed as she bent over, her hands deep within her satchel, her plump, thermal legging clad rear swaying hypnotically from side to side, no doubt to the sound of some song only she could hear. A folding chair emerged with a dramatic flourish, assembled in the blink of an eye and laid upon the blanket, sagging slightly under the tallest of groups weight.

“You could even join Spike and I, if you wanted.” Twilight added. “We’ve actually got a bit of an exciting evening planned. Holiday magic is notoriously under researched, and I have a theory that in large enough quantities, it can actually disrupt and displace regular magic in the surrounding atmosphere, so we’re going to be taking readings of ambient magical energy to look for distortions and - and…”

An ocean of eyes settled upon Twilight, Spike’s in particular, looking almost betrayed by the sudden revelation of how he would be spending his Nightmare Night.

“Well I think it’ll be exciting…”

“I’m sure it will be.” the pink-haired woman beamed, unscrewing the lid of her thermos. “But if I go with you, who will be here to greet the arrival of The Grand Pumpkin?”

Wisps of white steam escaped as the lid popped off, warm, chocolate cocoa soon flowing into a cup, waiting to be filled.

“About that…” The twin plops of marshmallows falling into the drink, briefly interrupted. “It’s just… no matter how much reading I do, I can’t seem to find any record of this ‘Grand Pumpkin’.”

“To be honest, darling, I still don’t really understand what makes a big pumpkin so special in the first place.”

Finally, the ‘shussssh’ of whipped cream as a spiral of foam found itself on top of the drink, and then, shortly after, in a thin film above Pinkie Pie’s soft, pillowy lips.

“It’s not the size of The Grand Pumpkin that matters, silly. It’s what he does! Every year The Grand Pumpkin rises from The Ponyville Pumpkin Patch, and blesses his believers with treats from his bag of candy.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Good grief…”

“I just wish you had given us a bit more warning…” Fluttershy murmured. “You shouldn’t be out all alone on a night like this.”

“Pssssh, I’ll be fine!” She tutted, throwing a thick, pink blanket over herself, the immensity of the curves of her large breasts and slight tummy, concealed beneath its folds. “Besides, I wouldn’t want any of you to miss out having your own fun.”

“Some of us more than others…” Dash smarmed.

“And what’s that sposed’ t’mean?” Applejack shot back.

“Well, obviously whoever gets the most candy will end up having the most fun, and I don’t mean to brag-”

Applejack snorted, drawing a sideways look from Dash even as she carried on. "But thanks to my special training, Scootaloo is now a candy gathering machine."

“Oh, please, Applebloom could get ten times as much candy as Scootaloo if she’s usin’ anythin’ she learned from you.”

Rarity groaned a pinched the bridge of her nose.

"That sounds like a bet to me! How about the loser carries the winner’s candy back?

“Nonononono!” The two arguing women doubled over in pain, Rarity having taken an ear in either hand and brought the two of them down to her level. “The two of you will not turn this into another one of your little contests, is that clear?”

“Yes!” the pair squealed in unison as Rarity’s grip tightened.

“I mean it! All I want to do is have a fun night in town. I do not want to spend it looking after five children instead of three.”

“We got it! We got it!”

“Yeah, Rare, we we’re just playin’ around!”

“Good.” Rarity relented, spinning on her heel and leaving the pair to nurse their now smarting ears. “Then we really should be going, I still need to get into my costume.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared a look, glowering at one another, but following after her.

“We’re not really spending the whole night looking at ‘ambient magic readings’ or whatever, are we?” Spike asked, as he and Twilight began to leave as well. “Not the whole night, Spike, we’ll also need to take notes and discuss our findings!”

“My cabin is just a few minutes away.” Fluttershy added. “If you get anything spooky happens you can drop by any time.”

“Will do!” Pinkie Pie replied, settling into her post.

Soon, Pinkie Pie was alone with her cocoa, a long sigh escaping from her lips as she curled more tightly under her blanket in anticipation of the arrival of The Grand Pumpkin.

The moon, fully overhead, gentle puffs of white breath escaped from between Pinkie Pie’s lips. Huddled underneath her blanket, and hands pulled into the sleeves of her sweater, she lay curled in her chair, gently dozing.

Then, all of a sudden, night changed to day as beams of orange light shot up from the ground and filled the sky, bathing the entire pumpkin patch in an eerie glow.

“Awaken, true believer!” a voice called out into the otherwise silent night.

“Nuh - fuh -five more minutes…” Pinkie murmured in reply, turning over in her blanket and pulling it overhead.

The voice paused a moment, its source somewhat briefly taken aback, before redoubling its efforts. “AWAKEN, TRUE BELIEVER!”

“wha- I - I’m awake - I’M AWAKE!” The cocooned woman began to thrash about under her cover, falling from her chair in a flurry of limbs and continuing to struggle until her head managed to wriggle out from beneath one of its edges.

As her bright blue eyes adjusted to the newly created light, they caught upon a single shadow, illuminated on all sides by the strange glow that flooded the air radiating outward from every pumpkin in the patch.

“The Grand Pumpkin…” she whispered in an almost reverential tone.

“YES, IT IS I! THE GRAND PUMPKIN! THE GREATEST OF ALL HOLIDAY SPIRITS!”

The pink haired woman propped herself up on hands and knees, untangling herself from her covers and crawling towards the great shadow before her. “I knew you were real!”

“YES! YOUR FAITH WAS WELL PLACED!”

“I just didn’t expect you to be so…”

“SPECTACULAR?”

“…so…”

“AWE-INSPIRING?”

“Adorable!” She giggled, laying hands on a pumpkin, hardly bigger than that of a balled fist, and bringing it to up to her face. It stood in her palms, seemingly upside how, its stem split into tiny legs, with two growths like arms beneath a pumpkin head wildly out of proportion of the rest of its erstwhile body.

“I - I AM NOTHING OF THE KIND - I AM THE GRAND PUMPKIN!”

“Ohhhh, I bet you are.” She said, poking her finger against the point of the stem where she imagined a stomach would be. “I bet you’re the grandest pumpkin in all of Equestria. This is even better than you bringing candy!”

“Stop that!” The thin slit that was the pumpkin’s mouth opened with fitful giggles, it’s eyes scrunching as close to closed as they could manage. “The Grand - The Grand Pumpkin demands that you cease tickling him at once.”

“Dawwww, if you insist, little guy.” She chuckled back, returning him to the ground. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t expect The Grand Pumpkin to be so cute.”

“The Grand Pumpkin wasn’t always…” he sighed, his little pumpkin head sagging downward, the holes of his eyes turning almost baleful. “Once, The Grand Pumpkin was a great and powerful holiday spirit! One that bestowed untold rewards on those that followed him, while those who did not felt the righteous sting of…” His ‘eyes’ met ones filled with compassion. “of fewer rewards.”

“That’s so sweet of you.” Pinkie Pie croaked.

“Indeed, but those days are long past. The Grand Pumpkin’s followers have forsaken him. His powers have waned. He has been reduced to this sorry state, and soon, without new followers to believe in him, he will disappear altogether.”

Tears in her eyes, Pinkie Pie took hold of him again, clutching him to her chest. “That’s so sad!” She wailed “But I promise I’ll never stop believing in you!”

“The Grand Pumpkin appreciates that, pink one, but he fears that this cause is lost. One disciple, no matter how devoted, is not nearly enough to sustain The Grand Pumpkin for another year.”

“But it won’t just be one! Once I show you to my friends, I’m sure they’ll help out too!”

“Friends?” The Grand Pumpkin asked, a subtle interest to his voice. “How many friends?”

“Well, there’s Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.” She said, counting the names out on her fingers. “Oh, and Spike, of course! Can’t forget about him!”

“And these friends of yours, pink one…” he mused, his tiny hands now pressing pressing against the sweater beneath him. “are they all as ripe as you are?”

“Ripe?” She asked as the tiny vegetable wriggled free of her grasp and leapt back to the ground.

“If what you say is true, then there is, perhaps, a way for you to save The Grand Pumpkin from his fate.”

“I knew it!”

“There is an ancient ritual, requiring six maidens of pure heart and fecund nature to preserve The Grand Pumpkin’s essence, and a single virile, masculine vessel to act as his host. If it is performed tonight, The Grand Pumpkin may yet survive another year. Do you know what that means?”

“I think so! Er, except for ‘fecund’ and ‘virile’… But this is great, I’ll just take you to Twilight, and you can explain everything to her, and then-”

“NO!” He shouted back. “The Grand Pumpkin fears that he is too weak even to leave this meagre patch. But there is another way.”

His tiny legs took him to a nearby pumpkin, and, with his hands upon it, the eerie orange glow that it emitted began to grow brighter.

A cool wind blew as leaves swirled around him, the light of the other pumpkins begging to fade, shrivelling up as the one pumpkin grew larger, it’s own glow shining ever brighter, until finally, the patch went dark again, the howling wind fading to silence, and the leaves once more settling upon the ground.

“It is done.” The Grand Pumpkin whispered.

Pinkie Pie looked around, barely able to see. “What is?”

“The Grand Pumpkin has channeled what little power he has left into this one, last container.”

Though its outside no longer glowed, Pinkie Pie could see light emanating from beneath it. The same orange colour coming in pulses, like a heart beat, and felt almost as if it were calling out to her.

“With this, you will become a Disciple of The Grand Pumpkin, and convert others to his cause, and through them, return him to his former glory.”

She took the pumpkin in hand and turned it over, finding a large hole carved in the bottom through which she could see the intense orange glow within. “That’s great but… I don’t think I get how this is going to help you.”

“Look closer, pink one, within that pumpkin, all answers shall be found.”

She brought it up to her head, but still saw little other than orange light.

“Closer.”

As she inspected it more thoroughly, she saw that the orange glow seemed to originate not from the inner walls of the plant itself.

"Closer."

She held it overhead, and studied its insides, keen to discern what it was that gave off that enchanting orange glow.

A loud snap rang out as vines leapt from the hole in the pumpkin’s bottom and pulled it over Pinkie Pie’s head. Her hands on its sides, she instinctively tried to lift it off, her voice, muffled beneath it.

“What’s-” She asked, managing to raise it a few centimetres over head “What’s going-”. The vines snapped taught, pulling it back in place, and fastening themselves more ever more tightly. Soon, they began to wrap their way around her forearms, growing their way downward and slithering their way under the sleeves of her sweater.

“BECALM YOURSELF, PINK ONE, YOU SHALL BE THE FIRST OF MY NEW DISCIPLES, AND FOR THAT YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREATER THAN ANY OTHER’S!”

The sound of shredding fabric filled the air as the vines pulsated and expanded, pulling the of her sweater apart as they writhed their way down her torso, over her belly, and beneath beneath the waist of her leggings, peeling them apart as they made their way down to her ankles.

A dull thud followed as she fell backward. The long green tendrils began to stich themselves together, wrapping ever more tightly around her, and sinking into soft, cream coloured skin that spilled over their coils.

What little ability remained for her to resist came only in attempts to roll from one side to the other, but this too ceased suddenly as a blinding flash of orange light emerged from beneath the pumpkin upon her head.

Soon, Pinkie Pie lay entirely limp on the muddy ground, the bright light of the pumpkin atop her head pulsing gently and bathing her near naked body in an orange glow.

The vines that had held her hostage began to recede, no longer behaving as restraints, though their new purpose was no less sinister.

“ARISE, MY NEW DISCIPLE. ARISE!”

Dutifully, Pinkie Pie rose as if she were a puppet on strings, the vines taking hold of her and guiding her upright. The weight of the pumpkin left her head bowed downward, her arms hanging low and her thighs pressed together, but as the vines continued to reshape themselves upon her, this too began to change.

What had once looked like little more than living chains became more and more like garments, like articles of allegiance to her new deity. The now mud stained white of her bra and panties were all that remained of the clothes in which she had arrived. The rest lay in tatters at her feet.

As her posture righted itself, the vines had arranged themselves around her, winding up and down the length of her arms and legs, clinging tightly to them and sinking deeply into the softness of her flesh. From over her shoulders, they converged like a collar around her neck, and stretched down her torso and between her ample breasts, over the gentle curve of her belly, and between her legs where, as a thin trickle of arousal began to trickle out, they made their home.

“WHAT SAY YOU NOW? FIRST DISCIPLE OF THE GRAND PUMPKIN?”

“I live to serve The Grand Pumpkin.” came her muffled reply, her voice devoid of even the faintest hint of emotion. “All shall worship The Grand Pumpkin.”

“EXCELLENT, THEN GO FORTH MY DISCIPLE! GO FORTH AND CONVERT THE OTHERS TO OUR CAUSE! BRING THEM HERE SO THAT THE GRAND PUMPKIN MAY BE RESTORED TO HIS FORMER GLORY!”

Pinkie Pie’s entire body went stiff, and her arms stretching straight out before her. “It is an honour to serve The Grand Pumpkin.” Awkward, jerky steps spun her in place, turning her away from her new master and towards her new destination: Ponyville.

Author's Note

I defy anyone anywhere to determine the extremely niche and and esoteric source material from which this story draws its inspiration!

This is my submission for Broni-wan-kenobi's Spooky Cloppy Contest. Moreover, it is a bold experiment for me in trying to actually meet a deadline for a change. Like everything I touch, it inevitably expanded well beyond what was intended, but the goal was to write something relatively quickly and with minimal revision, and, for the most part, I think I might actually achieve that goal. Though the whole story isn't TOTALLY done, I'm posting this now to lock me into having the whole thing, ready or not, up by the end of day tomorrow when the deadline arrives, so expect randomly timed uploads between now and then!

Also, this is the first long~ish thing I've written using a new markdown text editor I've been toying with for a while, so if there are any egregious formatting errors let me know.