It was a few weeks after the Mane 6, Ruby Jubilee and the Dreamlands got back from another Unity Quest, helping Mystery Incorporated solve a vampire mystery in Louisiana, that it was finally time for one of the most anticipated holidays of the year… Nightmare Night!

Costumes, trick or treating, parties… all the works were going in to make this the best Nightmare Night ever… especially in Bridlewood.

Misty’s mother and father invited the group to Bridlewood to celebrate there, since they spent two Nightmare Nights in Maretime Bay and the year after that in Zephyr Heights. That’s when Pipp got a great idea-- why not invite the Pippsqueaks along? They would love celebrating Nightmare Night in Bridlewood!

Of course, the others did have a few hesitations, but after a long while of considering, they really didn’t see the harm in it.

So, calls were made, costumes were created, and finally… Nightmare Night had finally arrived.

XXXXXXXXX

“Hurry up, girls! Before they leave without us!” an orange unicorn filly in a dark orange cheerleader costume exclaimed to her two friends as they ran through the main streets of Maretime Bay. “Hey, it was Seashell's fault!” a blue pegasus filly in a dark purple cheerleader costume argued as she tried to keep up with her friends. “Watch it, Glory! I had to make sure my makeup was perfect,” the light purple earth pony filly in the dark green cheerleader costume argued in response. “Do you remember who we're spending tonight with?! We HAVE to look our best!”

Peach Fizz groaned. “It doesn't matter why we're late, just that we're late. Now, less talking and more running!”

Her two friends shut their mouths while they ran as fast as their little hooves could carry them. The streets were filled with different ponies in costumes, all putting the final touches on the Nightmare Night decorations. The Crystal Brighthouse finally came into sight as the three fillies continued running and, much to their relief, there were six ponies waiting for them outside, all gathered around the Marestream.

They skidded to a stop once they got there, all of them gasping for breath. They looked up to see their number one idol hovering in the air above them, watching them with a small smile, and they gasped in excitement. “Oooh, you fillies look so adorbs!” Pipp told them with a smile. “Cheerleaders, right?”

Pipp was dressed in a beautiful orange dress with a pearl necklace that held a music note charm that matched her cutie mark, and her wings were given a fairy-like design. “I'm a fairy princess. After the last Nightmare Night of going totally spooky, I decided to do something cute this year. But those cheerleader costumes are so pretty and sparkly, I've gotta post this on my ponygram feed. Selfie?”

The three fillies looked at each other before squealing loudly in delight, making Zipp cover her ears. “Yep… they’re Pippsqueaks through and through…”

Pipp pulled out her phone, touching down next to the fillies before raising her phone up, her hoof hovering over the camera button. However, she paused and lowered her phone, making the three fillies nervous they had done something wrong. “Get in the picture!” Pipp shouted to the rest of her friends. “This is a Nightmare Night selfie!”

Zipp groaned as her friends crowded around the three fillies and Pipp. Misty used her magic to pick up Pipp's phone out of her hoof and levitate it higher into the air so that they could get everypony in the shot. “Do I have to?” Zipp groaned, hovering in the air. “Zephyrina Storm, get your flank over here! And stop looking so miserable!” Pipp added when she saw the look on her sister's face. “You know how much this holiday means to me!”

The three Pippsqueaks looked at Pipp confused, to which she explained. “Zipp's astronaut costume is itchy and by the time she realized it, it was too late to change it.”

Once everypony was crowded around the phone, Pipp urged the group to shout 'Nightmare Night Fashion', and Misty took the shot. When this was done, Misty lowered the phone back to Pipp, who looked down at it with a smile. “Perfect. And…posted!”

The three fillies looked at each other again before squealing, even louder than before. “BEST NIGHTMARE NIGHT EVER!!”

Now that they were done squealing, it was time to get a closer look at the Mane 6's costumes, taken aback by how good they looked.

Misty Brightdawn was a beautiful pink butterfly, complete with wings and a dress-- totally fitting with her cutie mark being a butterfly and all.

Sunny Starscout was a spooky witch, dressed in black, but still had a cheerful demeanor.

Izzy Moonbow was in a complete bunny body suit, with her mane sticking out of her costume slightly, and her horn peeking out from under her hood.

The three fillies paused when they got to Hitch and Sparky. Hitch was dressed up in what looked like a dress with a coral ribbon scarf and a black belt with a golden buckle, and a fancy hat. Sparky, who was on his back, was dressed in a fancy hat similar to Hitch's, a tie, and a vest, complete with a fake mustache. The Pippsqueaks had to admit Sparky was adorable, but they had no clue what the two of them were supposed to be.

Hitch noticed the three fillies studying him and smiled. “Of course you fillies know exactly who Sparky and I are supposed to be.”

The three fillies hesitated, but, not wanting to make the sheriff feel bad, decided to guess anyway. “Umm… a fancy guy in a dress?” Seashell guessed innocently. Hitch's eyes widened and there was a soft blush to his cheeks. “N-No! This is a trenchcoat, not a dress!” he said as the others laughed hysterically. Before the three fillies could embarrass him further, he quickly filled them in. “I'm Sherlock Hooves. And this is my trusty partner, Dr. Watson!”

The three fillies tilted their heads. “Sherlock who?” Glory asked, furrowing her brows, causing Hitch to try and explain to them as best he could. “You know, famous detective from the 19th century? I got the inspiration for this costume by Basil of Baker Street, who we met on an earlier Unity Quest mission.”

The three fillies look at each other as though one of them understood who Hitch was talking about, but they were all confused. “Yeah, if we don’t know who he is,” said Zipp, crossing her hooves, “I doubt he’s famous, buddy.”

“But Sparky sure is cute with his adorable tie and super-cool looking mustache,” Izzy amended, bouncing up next to Hitch and pinching Sparky's cheek with her hoof. Hitch rolled his eyes and grumbled something about him being the only educated one around here, turning to go pout in the Marestream.

The other girls laughed at this, but the Pippsqueaks felt bad about the misunderstanding. “Did we do something wrong?” Peach Fizz asked. Pipp put a hoof around Peach Fizz, still chuckling, making her heart swell in excitement. “Neigh way. Trust us, when he came waltzing in with that getup, none of us knew who he was either.”

“Yeah. I grew up with him and I still had no clue,” Sunny added. “But, if we wanna get to Bridlewood,” Misty said, “we better get going. It's gonna get dark soon.”

Pipp agreed to this, and flew up in front of the Marestream. “All right, Pippsqueaks!” she announced. “Who's ready for a spooooky Nightmare Night?!”

“We are!” the three fillies exclaimed with equal vigor, though there was a small nervousness in the back of their heads they tried to push out of their minds. This was their first Nightmare Night without their parents and while they were excited to spend Nightmare Night with their idol, her love for scaring ponies was well-known, and it made them a little tense.

Pipp, however, seemed to sense their discomfort and tried to take their mind off it. “Yeah! Now that's the energy we're looking for! To the Marestream! Pipp Pipp hooray!”

“Pip pip hurray!” the three fillies echoed the iconic phrase before all eight of them joined Hitch in the Marestream, setting off for Bridlewood.

XXXXXXXX

Immediately after arriving in Bridlewood, the Mane 6 and all the Pippsqueaks screamed as a gray unicorn wearing a scary dog mask with green eyes jumped down from a tree as they walked out of the Marestream.

Misty, however, smiled softly. “Nice try, Dad, but not this time.”

Alphabittle shook his head in disappointment. “Oh well. It was worth a shot, Tea.”

“If it's any consolation, you scared the rest of us pretty good,” Sunny soothed with a smile, causing Alphabittle to smile slightly. “Yeah... thanks, Sunny.”

“Hey, trust me,” Pipp said, flying up next to Alphabittle. “It took me all night last year to scare Misty, and even then I had to go all out.”

Zipp flew next to Pipp with a smirk. “I believe it was I who got her that time.”

“I softened her up, it was a group effort.”

“My baby doesn't scare easy,” said a cream-colored unicorn with a green and purple mane and tail, a cutie mark of two dolphins, darker cream-brown hooves and blue eyes, otherwise known as Paradise Moonray, Misty's biological mother, who Misty seemed very happy to see. “Hi, Mom!”

“Hey, my little butterfly,” Paradise smiled as she and Misty hugged. “It's about time you ponies showed up. He's been waiting in that tree for an hour, waiting to scare you.”

“Well, if she saw me ahead of time, it would've ruined everything.” Alphabittle said with a shrug before he turned to the rest of the ponies. “You ponies ready for some good old fashioned Briddlewood fun?”

That's when the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks turned to see the trees, bushes and houses of Bridlewood were decorated with Nightmare Night decorations. Festivities and games were scattered about the wood, and in the background over the speakers was playing a classic Nightmare Night song: The Pony Monster Mash.

Though, one thing they noticed was how many lanterns lit the place up. It was like they wanted to light the place up so it looked like they were in the middle of the day instead of the middle of the night. “Oh my hoofness!” Pipp exclaimed, taking pictures with her phone. “This is so cute… and umm… bright...?”

Alphabittle gave a little smirk to this. “Well, of course. How else are we going to keep away the Shadow Screechers?”

Izzy froze, as did Peach Fizz. The unicorn filly may have now lived in Maretime Bay, but she spent her formative years in Bridlewood, and she knew the legend like every other unicorn.

Misty, however, looked confused as she turned to her parents. “What are the Shadow Screechers?”

Izzy gasped in shock when she heard this. “You never heard of the Shadow Screechers?! That's like the spookiest legend in Bridlewood!”

“I didn't grow up in Bridlewood, Iz, remember?” Misty reminded softly, causing Izzy to immediately understand. “Spooky legend?! I need to know about this,” Pipp gasped, flying in to sit in front of Alphabittle and Paradise. “Are you sure we should be telling this story?” Paradise asked her ex-husband. “I know when Mo-- Opaline first told me this tale, it scared me so bad I had nightmares for weeks!”

“We wanna hear it!” Seashell said, swallowing her fear. “We’re big ponies now! We can handle it.”

All the ponies hesitantly gathered around Alphabittle, who sat down in front of them, going into scary story mode. “Long ago, when Bridlewood was still new, a small band of unicorns decided to travel up north, after hearing tales of a rare crystal that could only be found in a certain wood. Once they arrived, however, it was the dead of night. Not wanting to explore an unknown wood in the dark, they decided to make camp and continue their journey in the morning.”

“A sound decision,” Hitch agreed. “You never know what might be lurking in an unknown set of woods in the dark.”

Hitch shivered, glancing into the Bridlewood forest, where the lantern light did not reach. But when he did, he noticed everypony glaring at him. “What?”

“You're interrupting the story,” Pipp answered flatly, shutting Hitch up. That's when Alphabittle decided to continue the story. “However, one unicorn wanted the riches the rare crystals would bring all to himself. So, in the middle of the night, he packed a saddlebag with some food, a lantern, and a map, wanting to leave extra room so he could pick as many crystals as he desired, before entering the woods on his own. He stuck to the path, and for the first hour, everything was fine. After that, he began to hear the sounds of crunching leaves and snapping twigs, but when he turned around, there was nothing there. He played it off as simply critters running about.”

Zipp rolled her eyes. “Classic horror movie mistake.”

Pipp shushed her sister while listening intently to the rest of the story. “After three hours of searching, he found nothing. He grew weary and decided to rest for a moment before heading back. He started a fire and began to eat,” Alphabittle continued the story. “However, as he ate, he heard a screeching sound. He at first believed it to be nothing but an owl, but it happened again and again, each time getting closer, until it sounded as though it were only a few feet away. However, as the unicorn awaited his doom, nothing entered the light of the fire, even though the screeching continued, before it, too, stopped.”

The nine ponies all held their breath in trepidation, swallowing nervously. Misty, Izzy, and Sunny huddled closer together while even Pipp began to grow nervous. The three Pippsqueaks were beside themselves, hugging each other tightly for comfort while Paradise sat next to them to reassure them.

Seeing as they were getting into the story now, Alphabittle decided to continue. “After minutes of hearing nothing, he slowly put out his fire, deciding these woods weren't safe and, knowing he had to stop his troupe from entering them, he grabbed his map and lantern and hurried in the direction of where he came from. As he walked, following the map perfectly, he'd see shadowed silhouettes in the corner of his eye, but when he'd turn to look, there'd be nothing there. He also noticed how eerily quiet the forest was. There was no chirping of birds or the scurry of small critters and the silence felt deafening. After another three hours of traveling, he saw no end to the woods in sight. He began to panic, running every which way, knowing he'd have to find an exit at some point. Unfortunately, the oil in his lantern began to lessen and lessen until the flame was so weak that it threatened to extinguish, and he seemed no closer to an exit.”

The nine ponies listened intently, leaning closer with wide eyes, despite their fear as Alphabittle continued his spooky tale. “As the light dimmed, he began to see shadowed creatures slowly creep toward him, always staying in the dark just before the threshold of the light. The creatures looked to be long shadows that vaguely resemble ponies, with spikes on their backs and glowing golden eyes. If the unicorn looked into them, he began to feel himself being pulled into something beautiful.”

“W-What was it?” Seashell asked with a tremble. “What did he see?”

“And more importantly… w-what’d he do?” Glory gulped. “Did he escape?” Pipp added with a shaky voice. When everypony looked at her, she shrugged casually, as though she wasn't scared. “What? I'm invested in the story.”

Alphabittle shrugged. “Nopony knows what he saw. However, before his lantern went out completely, he squeezed his eyes shut to avoid the lure of the creatures and threw his lantern at a dead bush, engulfing it in flames, causing the creatures to let out a loud, terrifying screech as the area was lit up. Taking advantage of the distraction, he ran in the direction he remembered camp to be and finally found an exit. As he sprinted into camp, he woke up everypony in the camp and explained everything he witnessed. However, as they heard his tale, they simply laughed it off, believing their friend was trying to play them for fools, so he could have all the riches to himself. Come morning, the party disembarked for the woods to continue their search, leaving their camp for when they returned.”

Sparky trembled nervously at this, leading Hitch to comfort the baby dragon by giving him a comforting squeeze. “Knowing there was nothing to be done for them,” Alphabittle continued, “he made it back to Bridlewood, warning the unicorns not to go in the woods up north. Nopony believed him until the unicorns that left in search of the crystals failed to return. They sent out a search party, but when they got there, they found the entire camp exactly as the group left it, but written in black ink on every possible surface was the phrase: 'We can't keep fighting. The end? No. A beginning? Yes. Their beginning. And it's beautiful. It's the only choice we have left. All else failed.’”

The nine ponies were stunned silent with fear as Alphabittle finished his tale. Even Izzy and Peach Fizz were scared silent, despite hearing the legend before.

Alphabittle chuckled innocently when he realized how scared the ponies were. “Oh, chill, kids. It's not true.”

“A-Are you s-sure?” Peach Fizz stuttered out, forgetting to act brave in front of her idol. “C-cause the l-legend of the t-troggles was r-real.”

All the ponies looked at Paradise and Alphabittle. Usually, they'd agree with Alphabittle, but after the troggle fiasco at Bridlewoodstock, they weren't so sure anymore. Even Hitch, who was the most logical pony, wasn't so confident between reality and tales.

Paradise stepped up. “Don't worry. Even if it were real, they can only hurt you in the dark. And see?” she asked as she pointed to the lanterns strung across the trees. “It's far from dark.”

All the ponies breathed a collective sigh of relief, their fear massively lessening, though there was still a small amount of fear in the three fillie's gut.

Suddenly, the nine cutie marks belonging to the Mane 6 and the Pippsqueaks glowed, and Hitch seemed to notice it first. “Uh, ponies. It's happening again.”

However, as they looked at the glowing cutie marks, nopony was more disappointed than Pipp. “Ugh. I was seriously looking forward to celebrating with classic Bridlewood traditions. Oh well, duty calls I suppose.”

“Yay! We get to go on another quest with you!” Glory cheered before her smile fell a bit. “I just… hope we don’t get lost in space again, like we did last time.”

“Just… stay close to us. We don't know what's going to be on the other side,” Hitch said sternly to the three fillies, who nodded obediently. Misty quickly hugged her parents farewell, and without further ado, all nine ponies jumped through the portal, prepared to be there for any new friend who needed their help.

Author's Note

Phew! The longest prologue chapter in all G5 Adventures, but totally worth it, right? I owe all of this to my friend Willow-- she really did a good job writing this chapter and the spooky story Alphabittle told. We're gonna be working together for the rest of the story, so be prepared for more awesomeness, guys!