Dark Trance

by DubleTruble96

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Comedy, Other, Tragedy, Random, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Human, Main 6
Length: 4130

Nightmare Night...A night of costumes, candy and...curses?

AKA The Costumed Curse Catastrophe

Nightmare Night, a night in which ponies dress in crazy get-ups and have fun dancing, partying, and collecting goodies from your neighbors for free! What could ruin a night like this?

How's about a nice curse to throw in the cauldron?

That's right. Something has gone wrong, and an ancient curse is unleashed. Now ponies all over Equestria have been transformed into the creatures they're dressed as!

Ghosts, ghouls, chickens, you name it!

Now, with the help of Austin, the Mane 6 must race against time to break the curse before the sun rises and Equestria becomes a freak-show.

But is there another behind this dastardly plot?

Stay tuned!

Published 2012-10-03 17:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-27 20:24:45 UTC

Chapter 1: Costumes and Candy

"Ooh! I always loved Nightmare Night! Don't you Spike?" Twilight said as she slipped in a pair of faux vampony fangs into her mouth.

"Yeah! Think of all the candy!" The little dragon said, drooling.

Twilight smiled and came downstairs.

"How do I look?" She said with a bit of a lisp. Her fangs made it hard for her to talk properly.

"Great Twilight! I'm glad you finally decided to dress up as something that wasn't Magic-related."

"Thankth."

Spike giggled.

"Fang trouble?"

"Yeah, thethe fangth make it hard to talk thometimeth."

Spike giggled again.

"You'll get used to 'em."

*Ding Dong!*

"Oh! Trick or Treaterth! Thpike! Get the candy!"

Spike nodded and ran to the door with a bowl of candy, and Twilight opened the door. She was a little suprised at what she saw.

"Welllll? Whaddya think?" Austin said, showing off his costume.

"Ummmm....what are you thuppothed to be?"

He stood there with his curly pink hair and tail dragging behind him.

"Oh come on! You know! Curly pink hair.....pink outfit?"

"Ummm...Cotton candy monster?" Spike guessed.

"No!! I'm supposed to be Pinkie Pie!! Sheesh..."

"Ummm...that'th great. But why Pinkie?"

"I dunno. I couldn't really find enough resources to dress as any pony else..."

"I thee....Well, nithe idea...I think."

"What are you?"

"A vampony!"

"You mean a vampire?"

"Yeah! A vampire pony!"

"Hm. And Spike is dressed as...."

Austin looked at the dragon's dragon costume.

"....Spike."

Spike rolled his eyes and let Austin inside.

"So when will the others arrive?"

"Thoon, I'm thure....We haven't gotten too many trick or treaterth yet."

"You should maybe take those out when talking...you're all....lispy."

"Thorry. It'th kinda hard talking with fangth. Thpike maketh it look tho eathy."

"The fangs, Twi?"

She fumbled with her fangs and pulled them out.

"Sorry." She grinned sheepishly.

*Ding Dong!*

"Oh! More trick or treaters?" Twilight ran to the door and opened it.

"Hi Twilight!" Rainbow said in her Shadowbolt costume. Pinkie, dressed as a ghost was behind her, and Fluttershy, dressed as a were-pony was behind her.

"Hey girls! Come on in!" She allowed them inside. The ponies got one look at Austin and snickered.

"Who's he supposed to be?"

"Curly hair.....pink outfit....*gasp* ARE YOU A COTTON CANDY MONSTER?!" Pinkie squealed.

"No...I'm supposed to be you Pinkie..." Austin said with a heavy sigh. "Does no one see the cutie mark? I mean it took me a full hour to paint that on!"

Fluttershy just giggled.

"I honestly thought you were cotton candy as well."

Austin crossed his arms and pouted.

"Look, it's just a very bad costume...It would've been better if I had more money." He muttered.

"Anyways, I wonder where the others are..."

"We're right here Twi!" Applejack called as she walked in with Rarity, who was dressed like a witch, and herself, dressed like a scarecrow pony.

They, once again, got one look at Austin's silly-looking sorry excuse of a costume, and snickered to themselves.

"What's he supposed to be? A mass of cotton candy with legs?"

Austin ground his teeth in frustration. Twilight grinned sheepishly and answered for him, seeing how angry he was getting.

"He's supposed to be Pinkie Pie, but the costume...didn't come out as planned."

"Well, I can help with that, darling! Come on Austin! I'll take you to my boutique and fix that drab costume up for you!" She pushed him out the door and towards her shop.

"Well, darling? What do you think?"

"Wow...it actually looks....good!"

Austin's faded, off-pink outfit was now just as pink as the pony he was aiming for. The once limp mass of dyed cotton balls he used as a tail was remade and replaced by a much more life-like, much more bouncy looking tail, that supported itself rather than hanging loosely from his lower back. The once-blonde-but-then-dyed-pink wig that he used was now a real pink wig, and looked very close to the curly, tangled mess that Pinkie's mane is usually in. And the cutie marks, which at first, looked like a child tried drawing balloons on a pink canvas with blue and yellow crayons was now identical to the party mares markings, with a better colouring treatment. (Rarity used fabric paint instead of markers, so obviously it was better.)

Austin looked over his shoulder at the tail that bounced behind him, much like Pinkie's would.

"How'd you get it to stay up?"

"With some wires, glue and a lot of pink cotton." Rarity said with a broad grin. "Well don't just stand here and marvel at yourself! Get out there and show the others!"

"Wait, what do I owe you? I have some bits in my pocket..."

"No no no...It's on the house. Besides, this is better than what you were wearing, no?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, darling. I'm the Element of Generosity after all!"

Austin couldn't really argue with that logic, so he and Rarity ran out to meet the others at the library.

When they arrived, the mares stared in awe at Austin's new costume. They liked it as much as he did.

"Wow Rarity! That looks amazing! It's like if Pinkie was a 6ft tall human!"

Even Pinkie liked it! She was grinning and giggling the whole time. Pinkie pounced Austin in a tackle-hug, squeezing tightly.

"I'm so happy you picked me!"

Austin coughed and choked a bit, quickly losing oxygen from Pinkie's tight hug.

"Okay! Okay! Too tight!"

"Oops sorry."

Pinkie let go of Austin and giggled. Austin stood up and caught his breath.

"So are we going to party at Sugarcube Corner or what?"

"He even acts like Pinkie!" Rainbow said with a snicker.

"Austin, you'd better be careful! Your eyes may turn blue and your tail might start twitching!" Twilight joked.

"Yeah, or your costume could take over your body! You might become a second Pinkie!" Applejack said.

"Oh come on! Weird things happen, sure, but that's a little too weird!" Austin said with a smile. "But enough of that! Let's get to the bakery!"

The mares all left the library to party at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie held a party for anything, but holidays were her best parties. Birthdays are second best. Nothing was going to ruin tonight!

Or was there?

Chapter 2: The Second Human In Equestria.....Takes It Suprisingly Well

Austin's House, Earth

"Auuuuustiiiiiinnnnn? Where are you?"

*Knock knock knock*

"AUUUUUSTIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN! Where is he? I wanted to go T&T-ing with him tonight. Well...I'll just let myself in. He won't mind."

*Click! Rattle Rattle*

The girl let herself into Austin's house. She looked around, seeing how dark it was. She was 14, pretty, and had a Rainbow Dash costume on, herself being a pegasister. Seeing that her companion was obviously not home, she sighed heavily. She looked around for any clue to where he may be. He saw a note on the fridge.

The salutation was smudged, making it unreadable, but she knew the note was adressed to her.

"I have went out with my friends. Sorry if I left you behind. Just press the button on the bracelet found on the coffee table, then speak into the tiny microphone charm. Signed, Austin."

She looked at the coffee table from her place in the kitchen. There was, indeed, a small bracelet, similar to the ECB that Austin wore to contact the ponies. Although she knows nothing about that...She walked over and picked it up, then followed the instructions given to her from the note.

She pressed the little red button, then spoke into the microphone, obviously confused at the bizarre note.

"H-Hello?"

The room was quiet for a while, until she heard Austin's voice reply.

"Hello?"

"Austin? Is that you?"

"Who is it?"

"Your girlfriend!"

"Oh! Hey! You got my note?"

"Yeah...where are you?"

"I...I'm at a party."

"Why wasn't I invited?"

"This....um...This isn't your everyday party..."

"Well you should've at least told me! I want to see you!"

"Hun, that's a little impossible at the moment."

"Just give me the address."

"um....I can't."

"Why not?!"

"It's complicated...Um....Would you believe Sugarcube Corner?"

"Yeah right. Like you're partying in Equestria."

"I am."

"Prove it."

"..........Alright."

Sugarcube Corner, Equestria

Austin turned off the ECB.

"HEY PINKIE!!"

Pinkie trotted over in her ghost costume.

"Yeah Austin?"

"I need a ride back to Earth...We're bringing someone back with us."

"Another human? Here? In Equestria? Austin...I don't think that's a good idea."

"Don't worry...She'll be fine. She's like me....Only a girl."

"Wellllllll....Okay..."

Austin mounted Pinkie's back, and they lept through her space gap back to Earth.

Austin's House, Earth

"Austin....AUSTIN! Ugh...he hung up."

Suddenly, Austin and Pinkie appeared in a brilliant flash of light, making the girl jump.

"Austin?!"

"No time to explain. Just get on the pony."

"Austin, I-"

Austin sighed, then grabbed the girl's arm, pulled her onto Pinkie's back, and they all lept back into Equestria.

When they arrived, Austin got off and let Pinkie go back and host the party. Meanwhile, the girl in the RD costume stared and looked around, gawking at everything. She was absolutely flabbergasted.

"Th-these....a-are..."

"Ponies. Yeah. You wanted proof, there's your proof. Now, do you want to stay or go back and Trick or Treat?"

"I want to stay! I've never had a Pinkie Pie Party!!"

"Well, let me introduce you first..."

Austin took the girl to the mane 6, and they all were talking and laughing, that is until Austin and the girl wandered over.

"Girls, this is my girlfriend, another human. She would like to participate in Nightmare Night."

The ponies looked at each other, then nodded and smiled.

"Welcome to the herd!" Twilight said with a broad grin.

"Wait...really?!" She said eagerly.

"Yep! We're all pretty much used to the idea of humans. Just don't mess with us, and we won't mess with you!" Pinkie said with a giggle-snort.

"Wow, her Rainbow Dash costume is divine! Did you make that all by yourself?"

"Yeah, from scratch. I would've helped Austin, but it looks like he already had help..."

Austin blushed, which was adorable, considering he's wearing a Pinkie costume.

They all welcomed her and showed her around Sugarcube Corner, introducing her to a few ponies here and there, and finally sitting her down to relax for a while before she went and had fun.

"So? Whaddya think?"

"This is amazing, Austin! Why'd you keep it secret so long?"

"I have to...Look, I can't give you all the details, but the point is we need to keep this hush when we're on Earth. Not only will we comprimise the ponies, but everyone will think we're freaks. That's why ponies can only be on Earth for short time intervals."

"Oh..."

"Sorry hun. But if you tell anyone besides me about Equestria, legally, I have to kill you."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"I'll be quiet then."

"Please do..."

Pinkie ran over and giggled.

"What are you two just sitting around for? It's time to PARRRRRRTY!"

They got a faceful of confetti and streamers from Pinkie's Party Cannon(TM), then giggled a bit and got up to go socialize with some other ponies.

Pinkie's parties were awesome, but to Austin's girlfriend, it was a brand new experience she was loving. She felt like nothing could ruin tonight.

That's when the sky turned black and cloudy and a strange cloaked pony kicked the doors in.

Well, so much for Trick or Treating....

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: The Curious-looking Colt Who Cursed The Costumes

"Who the buck are you?!" Rainbow Dash said, challanging the strange pony. The pony raised his hoof and, in a very loud and very distorted-sounding voice, he replied thusly:

"FOR TOO LONG HAVE WE BEEN IGNORED! WE ARE THE TRUE CREATORS OF NIGHTMARE NIGHT! WE CREATED THE HOLIDAY AND INSTEAD YOU CELEBRATE IT IN THE NAME OF THE LUNAR PRINCESS! WELL NOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE IT EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE EXISTANCE!"

Before anypony could react, he disappeared in a plume of smoke and ashes, but that wasn't all that happened. The moon turned from pure white to red, and it shone light on everything in Equestria...Including Sugarcube Corner. Suddenly, every pony and creature that was dressed up in a costume, became the very creatures they were dressed as!

Fluttershy's fur turned fluffier and her teeth developed long canine fangs. Applejack suddenly collapsed from only being made of hay and cloth. Rarity developed supernatural powers, Pinkie turned semi-transparent and couldn't figure out how to get back down from the air, Rainbow Dash's eyes turned yellow and her mane turned black, Twilight lost all her powers she originally had as a unicorn, and the fangs suddenly fused into her teeth and turned real...

But the worst possible outcome was for Austin and his girlfriend...They shrunk, developed hooves, and their faces turned much different. They found themselves in the bodies of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and both stumbled when they realized they couldn't stand upright on their hind legs. They both dropped to all fours and looked at each other curiously, and it took a minute for it to click. But when the gears in their heads started to go to work, they eventually figured it out.

Every pony suddenly screamed and ran around, while some tried desperately to take off their costumes, others were running around panicking. The mane 6, Austin and his girlfriend all stood around, not panicking, but knowing that something had to be done. But first, they needed to find the princess to make sure she's alright...If it affected EVERY pony, the Princess could be in danger. They immediately set out toward Canterlot in Twilight's balloon. Or...tried to.

Pinkie was still trying to figure out exactly how to move or interact in general with the world around her. Fluttershy gathered up the ragdoll that had become of Applejack, and they now had to help Pinkie. But how? She was an undead, and she can't be touched, grabbed, poked...Nothing. She was a literal mass of electromagnetic energy. Twilight then had an idea.

"Pinkie! You can possess everyday objects right? You're a ghost!"

"Yeah so?"

"Possess Applejack! Now Fluttershy won't need to carry her, and you can both get there at the same time!"

Meanwhile, Austin let out a rather annoyed grunt.

"Ahem?"

They looked at the two new ponies.

"Oh yeah...What about them?" Rarity asked Twilight.

She was just as confused as the rest of her friends.

"um....I'm not sure..."

Meanwhile, Pinkie took the opertunity to fill up Applejack's empty husk of a body. They both suddenly rose to their hooves and looked around. Applejack didn't feel right, having Pinkie in her body, but it was the only way for either of them to be mobile until something else was done.

Rainbow Dash was hovering a few feet off the ground, her yellow goggles glowing in the night.

"What now?"

"We find the princess. Umm...Austin....girl....You just follow us...or do your best to follow us."

"My name is Jennifer." the girl stated.

"Oh. Well come on."

They ran to Twilight's house and hopped into her balloon, then set out towards Canterlot Castle.

They arrived shortly after, with the help of Rainbow's newfound speed. They ran to the doors of the throne room, then Austin and Jen bucked the doors down. Suddenly Pinkie/Applejack screamed.

"OH MY CELESTIA THEY'RE just fine....."

The princesses looked fine. Not a scratch. They looked over their shoulders at the group of ponies, and there was a rather awkward silence until Twilight finally said.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! You're okay!!"

"Twilight, thank goodness you're here...I was just about to send a letter to you." Luna said.

"Umm...I'm sorry? Why? You're just fine...Besides, I thought Princess Celestia sends the letters."

"She does." Princess Celestia chimed in.

"Why are you talking in 2nd person?"

Now everypony was confused...Well, besides the royal sisters.

"Look, it's hard to explain..." Luna said calmly.

"But we will do our best to explaineth to thou." Celestia said.

"Is it just me, or are these two acting a lot like...each other?!" Austin finally asked.

"That's what happened." Luna explained. "We were dressed as one another, in costume. That's when the curse broke out, and we became like this."

"Still confused." Jen said.

Luna sighed.

"Look, I'm actually Celestia, but I was dressed as my little sister when the curse broke out. Now I've become Luna."

"And We have become her."

"Oh. So you've swapped bodies?"

"Yes, thou could sayest that."

Austin just blinked. As did Jen.

Finally, after another brief moment of silence, Twilight asked the Princesses if they knew anything about the curse.

"Well...no. We have no idea who that mysterious colt was who burst into Sugarcube Corner. All we know is that he holds very strong magic."

"Stronger than yours?" Rarity asked in disbelief.

"No, but close. Girls, you will need to don the Elements of Harmony, but I'm afraid they've gone missing yet again."

"You REALLY need better security..." Austin said. "Man I sound weird...all...girlish and squeaky..."

Pinkie giggle-snorted, but because she was in AJ's body, it was hard to watch.

"So is there anything you can tell us?" Twilight finally asked.

"No...Not at the moment, I'm afraid. Please, tell us if you find any clues. But be quick. From what we've learned already, the curse becomes permanent at sunrise. And due to obvious reasons, we have to raise the sun...Otherwise Equestria will be shrouded in eternal darkness."

"How long have we got?" Rainbow asked.

"You have less than 10 hours..."

"Can you just stall for a while?"

"We're sorry, but if we do, the crops around Equestria will die and we could starve."

"So we have 10 hours time?"

"Good luck my little ponies..."

"And humans..." Austin and Jen said angrily.

"Oh. Right. Of course. You too."

The ponies all set out to find the Elements of Harmony, though still confused at where to start. In such a vast land, how can 8 ponies find 6 necklaces in time?

And with the strange colt watching their every move...

There are so many questions left unanswered.

How will Twilight hold back her bloodlust?

Will Rarity suddenly learn how to turn water into wine?

Will Pinkie and Applejack ever be seperated?

How will Austin and Jen cope with their newfound abilities?

Will Austin break the 4th wall?

Is Fluttershy still adorable or is she too fearsome for words?

Why am I asking you all these questions?!

All these thoughts buzzed through the minds of the group, who knew that they needed to figure this out later. Their main and only priority is to find the Elements, get the goon, and cure the curse before sunrise, which is only 10 short hours away...

So they decided to take the smart route, and look to the one pony who knows of everything supernatural. The striped shaman. The mysterious mare. YES! THE ONE AND ONLY.....LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!

Wait I mean Zecora. Zecora.

Chapter 4: Learning Experience

"So we gotta go through the Everfree Forest, at night, on Nightmare Night, looking like a bunch of weirdos and 2 ponies?" Austin asked rather sarcastically.

"Yep...It's the only way to possibly get some answers." Twilight responded.

From what should've been a night out collecting candy and having fun in costumes, a curse is now plauging all of Equestria, and once again, it's up the Elements of Harmony (Plus 2) to stop it. Somehow.

"Okay but lemme ask you this, Twi. What happens now? You're a vampire, and Dashie is a shadowbolt. AND Fluttershy is a werepony, and I'm Pinkie Pie, and my...marefriend is now Rainbow Dash. How will we even use the Elements, and what if our new forms come with.....disadvantages?"

"Well, we'll have to cross that bridge when it-...wait, what do you mean disadvantages?"

"Twi, you're a vampire. Vampires need to drink blood to stay healthy. Fluttershy is a werewolf, and is now possibly feral. Dashie could possibly do what she did when Discord attacked and ditch us. And me and Jen are now ponies, but we also happen to be ponies with...abilities. Such as breaking the 4th wall, and breaking the sound barrier."

"Well how would that be considered a disadvantage?"

"We have no idea how to use them."

"Oh yeah..."

"So what will happen then? We can't have you biting everypony. And I don't want to deal with catching RD and Fluttershy when they go nuts."

"Austin, we have our minds, our bodies are just....different."

"But how long until our minds go? Huh?"

"...."

"Exactly. So let's get to Zecora's place before your vampony hunger pangs kick in."

We arrived at Zecora's house shortly after, luckily for us, without having to fight on the way over...We knocked on her door, expecting the worst...Zecora opened the door and smiled, looking....rather...normal. I guess she didn't dress up tonight.

"I expected you would arrive soon. I knew of the curse when I saw the moon..."

She let us in and we all sat down around her caulrdon.

"We were hoping you could give us some clue as to how we can fix the curse before sunrise."

"The curse, yes, I know it well...Gather 'round for the legend I need to tell..."

She explained the curse was from long ago, created by an ancient cult of sorcerer's and spellcasters, though none of them were a unicorn. These earth ponies figured out their own magic, using rituals and curses to smite those they felt would be a threat to their cult. From illnesses to deaths, the cult knew no bounds. The were eventually found out by Celestia, and were...dealt with. But before the cult's disappearance, they left one last curse to only be awoken by one colt. He would be the last decendant of the cult, and the only one who could exact revenge for what Celestia did to them. And it would only be woken on Nightmare Night, on the night of a full moon.

"So how do we break the curse?"

"The answer to that rests, within the confine's of the decendant's chest."

"Are you saying we need to tear out his heart and-"

"What?! No!" Zecora took a break from her rhyming and sighed. "Look, it's in a magical chest somewhere below Ponyville! The only way it can be opened is with the key the decendant carries with him at all times."

"Oh. Well, that's both clean and we don't have to kill anypony."

"Beware about him you pony folk. The decendant's spells-"

"-Are no joke. Yeah, we get it."

Zecora grumbled a bit, then hoofed us some potions.

"These will help you in your quest. Now go and find the decentant's chest."

"So what are they?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know....wait, they have tags. Hold on...Okay the red one is some sort of ek-toh-plah-zem." Pinkie read aloud.

"You mean 'ectoplasm'?" Austin said, facehoofing.

"Yeah. Apparently it can give anything that drinks it a special possession of some sort."

"I guess that's for AJ..."

Pinkie left AJ's straw husk and poured the fluid into Applejack's mouth. She slowly rose up and smiled, finally being able to walk without Pinkie's help.

"What else?"

"We've got the Poison Joke cure, but this ones to drink. Ummmm...We have....blood wine...Warning, does not contain actual blood."

"For Twilight I guess."

"We also have this thing." Pinkie used her ghost-levitation powers to hover a strange collar. It looked too big for a pony, or anything of the sort...

"Is that a belt?" RD asked.

"No, the tag says it's a silver-infused dog collar. It's supposed to keep were-ponies at bay."

"For Fluttershy then."

"We also have a few healing potions, and that looks like that's it..."

"Huh." Austin said. "Well, let's get that collar on 'Shy..."

Fluttershy wimpered a little but she understood what needed to be done. We strapped the collar around her neck and tightened it just enough to make sure she can't slip it off, but not quite enough to make it uncomfortable. Fluttershy didn't really like it, but she did enjoy the little bell that jingled when she walked.

"So Pinkie, you okay now?"

"Yeah, I've managed to figure out how to hover and walk and stuff! It's kinda fun!"

"Well, now what? We know what to do, just not how to start."

"We do have a few minutes to kill...maybe we can go back to Sugarcube Corner and look for clues." My rainbow-maned girlfriend said rather smartly.

We all looked at her, then looked at each other.

"Agreed." We all said in unison.

A/N: CANCELLED

My apologies everypony, but I've just went completely brain-dead for this story! I wanted to finish it, but alas, I'm at a loss of what to write. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Otherwise, this is going to be on a temporary, possibly permanent cancellation.