Chapter 1 - We will throw a tantrum if you don't join us
Princess Celestia sat upon her gilded throne, her posture perfect, yet her eyes glazed over with the practiced apathy of a ruler used to the drone of nobility’s endless complaints. Once again, it was the same parade of grievances. She couldn’t help but stifle a yawn, remembering with bittersweet fondness the lively, chaotic Halloweens of her past life, a human life long lost to her.
Yes. It was Halloween in her Equestria. Now, this season had transformed into Nightmare Night—a celebration born from the tragic event of her sister’s banishment to the moon.
(Which, Celestia thinks is offensive towards her sister. It was a good thing she ordered them to be awake during the night in the event, to have fun and look at the stars—specifically the damn stars that her sister made.)
It had been almost a thousand years since that fateful day when she’d awakened as Equestria’s princess, fully conscious of her former human life yet trapped in the body of Celestia. The knowledge of what she'd done and what she’d lost still lingered like a persistent shadow.
She refocused on the noble, a pony so absorbed in his own melodrama he hadn’t noticed her wandering thoughts. Just as she drew a measured breath, ready to speak—
BANG!
'Mother of mercy what the hell.' she thought.
The door to her left slammed open. A sound so sudden and so loud, every guard in the room flinched and turned toward the noise, their hooves clattering on the floor in readiness. Even Raven Inkwell, her ever-faithful secretary, gasped as her quill snapped mid-sentence. Celestia’s eyes shot to the small door, hardly believing anyone would be so bold—
"Princess Celestia!"
"Tia!"
"Your Majesty—"
"Ma!"
Celestia blinked, her calm demeanor momentarily slipping as she took in the sight before her.
There, assembled like a tiny army in the doorway, were six very familiar ponies. But… they were children. Foals.
Six little foals—Midnight Sparkle, Nightmare Moon, Tempest Shadow, Sunset Shimmer, Sombra, and Chrysalis—all of whom she’d known as fully grown adults, all once revered or feared in their own worlds, now looking like they’d wandered straight out of a schoolyard.
And she's pretty sure they're all supposed to be in their respective Equestrias, not in hers.
Her brain stalled. She'd known these ponies as adults, powerful, dignified (or in most cases, terrifying) figures.
But here they were, barely old enough to reach her knees, and gazing up at her with wide, adoring eyes that of a literal toddler who just learned how to say their first word.
What??? Hello??? WHY ARE YOU HERE?!? WHY DID THE OTHER SUNSET CALL ME MOM??? I DON'T NEED YOUR EQUESTRIA'S LORE.
The guards around her looked equally bewildered, their rigid postures faltering. Even Raven Inkwell, Celestia’s usually unshakable secretary, was still startled, her mouth agape. And the noble before her? He looked looked utterly scandalized, a choking sound escaping him mid-sentence. It took every ounce of Celestia’s control not to laugh like a maniac.
You know what? She can just humor them. She doesn't care anymore. All the guards around her most of the time all know she has her own group of friends.
Who were not children. But fuck it. It's Equestria.
"Yes, my good friends?" she said, adopting her carefully measured, motherly tone as she peered down at the group.
Sunset, her little red-and-gold curls framing her face, was the first to speak. She looked up at Celestia with bright, expectant eyes and took a step forward confidently.
"We wanna go trick-or-treating."
Oh okay wow straight forward there little one, kinda expected because you're similar to my Sunset.
Her brain was still trying to process the sheer absurdity of the situation.
“Alright…” She put on her most diplomatic but motherly voice, “How about this? I’ll assign a few guards to—”
“We specifically want YOU to trick-or-treat with us!” Sombra demanded, little hoof stomped firmly, while Chrysalis nodded shyly from behind him, gaze pleading as she slightly leaned forward. These weren’t just any foals—these were her (previously human) friends, adults in other lives—and in their Equestria—who had somehow turned into foals, got to her Equestria, and stormed her throne room, demanding she abandon her post for… trick-or-treating. As if she, Princess Celestia of Equestria, could just skip out on royal duties for candy.
She’d faced dragons, defeated tyrants, and ruled the kingdom for centuries—but now, apparently, she was no match for six foals hellbent on dragging her out for an evening of trick-or-treating.
"I—"
"WE WANT HALLOWEEN!" The tiny insufferable Sombra demanded like the adult version, throwing a (probably tiny) tantrum and not letting her finish her sentence.
“Uhm, no.” She deadpanned, her polite facade slipping into sheer disbelief and confusion. “I’m at work. Please no.”
Her words were flat, her royal mask dropping like a curtain, and in its place, the true, frazzled, very human her emerged. Celestia knew she looked about two seconds away from losing her mind from the sheer conversation, and judging by the wide-eyed expressions of her guards and Raven—who was now covering her face with a clipboard—they could all see it too.
Her mental state was teetering between her canon self and then "needs freaking therapy."
The foals looked at her in horror. Their expressions were so disappointed she nearly burst out snorting and giggling—nearly.
The mini Nightmare Moon recovered first, "But every year at Halloween—"
"Nightmare Night." Celestia interjected, nodding at her.
And the tiny-sized villain (all could barely even reach her knees) glares at her, wings twitching in irritation. And then—with a level of audacity Celestia hadn’t seen since Luna’s rebellion—chucked one of her tiny hoofguards at her head so quickly it was like a bullet. Celestia caught it expertly with a flick of her wing, though she was more stunned by the absolute nerve of it all.
Why must you torture me this way.
Nightmare Moon didn’t miss a beat. “At NIGHTMARE NIGHT, you always look out the window, brooding and sighing as if fighting crime wasn't enough for you!”
Celestia groaned, putting a hoof to her forehead. “Okay, first of all, you’re making me sound like a copy of Batman, I don't fight crime anymore. And two—" She gestured wildly to the throne room, her composure cracking like a crumbling dam. “I am at work! Do you see all this? The guards? The petitioners? Could you just, I don’t know… keep, it, down?” she gritted through her teeth.
She also shot her friends a look and a gesture with her wings that screamed Please, for the love of Equestria, SHUT UP. But they just stared back, unyielding.
But her outburst and action only earned her even more shocked and amused looks from everyone present. The guards’ expressions were caught somewhere between astonishment and outright giddy; one was visibly shaking with restrained laughter, while another struggled to stay upright, biting down on his lip so hard he looked about to burst. Raven Inkwell had buried her face in her clipboard, as if she hadn't just witnessed her boss nearly get pelted by a foal's steel hoofguard.
The guard off to her right was barely holding in laughter, his cheeks puffed out as he stifled snickers. He had a maroon coat and a light pink mane with white streaks, and cyan eyes. Celestia shot him a look that practically screamed, "HELP ME," but all he could do was bite his lip, nearly losing it as his composure crumbled.
FELIX. She mouthed, looking at him pleadingly. He only snorted, keeping in his laughter.
FELIX, HELP ME. THEY'RE CHILDREN. WHAT DO I DO.
The bastard had the gall to look away.
Sunset Shimmer (who surprisingly still looked like her adult self, but incredibly young), undeterred, stomped her hoof again. “But mama, you want to go trick-or-treating! We all have a costume, and I know you do too!” she insisted, her tiny voice echoing through the throne room as she crossed her forelegs, her determination unwavering.
Celestia then let out an exasperated sigh as she caught sight of Tempest, who, despite her small stature, stood with the same grave intensity as her adult self. “Please, Your Majesty, come with us. We want you to have a break.” Tempest’s little face, however fierce, held a hint of concern, as if even she knew Celestia was teetering on the brink of sanity and as if she wasn't part of causing it.
Break? What break? You're all disrupting her predictable routine and now she has to babysit you fools who were all turned into FOALS who are calling her MOTHER despite not even BEING A MOM GOD DAMN IT.
“Alright, listen,” she whispered, half-pleading, “I know you think this is a good idea, but please rethink everythi—”
“Ahem!” The noble pony, apparently indignant over being ignored, stomped his hoof with a huff as he turned to Celestia, “Your Highness, surely you don’t mean to humor these rowdy peasant foals do y—"
“YOU SHUT UP!” Celestia and Midnight Sparkle shrieked in unison, with the latter thrusting a hoof at him with all the fury of a pint-sized general.
The entire room held its breath as the noble’s face went red with indignation, letting out an undignified choke.
That did it. The laughing guard finally lost it and doubled over in laughter, while several others barely managed to stifle snickers, muffling giggles behind their hooves, or even snorting so loud. Raven Inkwell was currently trying to hide her face behind the clipboard, her shoulders her shaking with restrained laughter. One guard was even thumping the floor with a hoof as he laid down cackling loudly. And dear god the main door to the throne room was slightly open and she could see a few nobles either chuckling, frozen in shock, or a journalist taking a picture and probably going to make it in the headlines.
Celestia.. could feel her dignity collapsing in on itself like a crumbling building.
She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as if bracing herself for some great existential revelation from Harmony itself. She looked around, taking in the throne room filled with suppressed laughter and giggles, her once-solemn guards cracking smiles, her secretary hiding behind a clipboard, and her six very tiny, very insistent friends.
Dear sweet merciful heavens, someone please end her existence. Or better yet, let the floor open up and swallow her whole like an alligator.
She wanted to pretend this entire scene was a figment of her overworked imagination.
And apparently, she took too long to answer, as the tiny ball of evil shadowy sass Sombra took a deep breath, looked at her in the eyes and—
"TiaaaAAAAA!!!!"
—wailed, the sound echoing through the whole building like a tragic siren.
"Oh no." Celestia muttered in horror.
And then, as if on cue, the others followed suit—not quite throwing a tantrum but literally wailing. It was a cacophony of shrieks and cries so powerful that Celestia couldn’t help but slap her wings over her ears, cringing.
Even the tiny Chrysalis, usually such a sinister little thing, was letting out the most heart-wrenching sobs as if she just saw her non-existent pets die.
So far the loudest by far was Sunset, a downright thunderous bawling that probably rattled or cracked the stained-glass windows in her throne room.
'Holy shit, did Sunset inherit those lungs from HER version of me from her Equestria!?' Celestia thought.
“OKAY, OKAY! I’LL ABANDON MY DUTIES TODAY AND GO TRICK-OR-TREAT WITH YOU ALL! STOP CRYING!” Celestia yelled over their cries, her voice louder than theirs combined, and she wasn't even using her Royal Canterlot Voice.
A moment of stunned silence passed, and then everyone burst out in shocked reactions—laughter, gasps, and all the tears of mirth they’d been holding back. Her poor secretary looked torn between horror and hilarity.
"YAY! MAMA'S JOINING US!" Sunset exclaimed.
"Please I beg you never call me mama in the throne room. Infact, never call me that, you're going to cause so much rumors and political issues." Celestia choked out, hiding her face in her hooves from the sheer ridiculousness this evening.
Outside the door, Celestia could already hear the scandalized gasps and whispers of the noble ponies and, undoubtedly, a few journalists lurking nearby that were waiting in line. They were probably jotting down notes for tomorrow’s headlines as fast as they could.
She has to find out who or what the hell caused her friends to revert their ages or else she'll have to return then in their Equestria INCREDIBLY YOUNG.
She hopes the other versions of herself don't see her once she returns them all back.
Chapter 2 - Trick-or-Treat! NOW GO BACK TO YOUR EQUESTRIAS!
Apparently the spell that turned her friends into fillies don't let them remember everything clearly, and thankfully had a time limit. Of 24 hours. Joy.
And in her many years of ruling, Celestia had weathered diplomacy with Griffons, negotiated treaties with the Dragons, and kept harmony in Equestria. But nothing—absolutely nothing—had prepared her for this.
She glanced down at the costume she had managed to cobble together in a moment of desperation: a ballistic SWAT outfit from the mirror world, salvaged right before the portal closed when her Sunset went in. In the dim light, it looked as though she'd been sent on a secret mission rather than dressed for Nightmare Night. Meanwhile, the foals with her looked adorable.
Tempest Shadow was decked out in a newly polished, gleaming armor set, upgraded with dark materials and intricate detailing that would make her adult self proud once she remembers (Celestia hopes the armor adjusts its size for the wearer. Also how did she get those materials for Nightmare Night?). Sombra, in richly clothing and regal crown, looked every inch a true noble prince. Tiny Chrysalis wore a lush, crimson velvet gown with a high collar, giving her the air of a vampire duchess despite her small stature. Midnight Sparkle was in shining, if slightly oversized, knight’s armor, and little Nightmare Moon… well, she’d opted for her own armor, but the effect was still chilling on such a small filly.
And then there was Sunset. She wore a replica of Celestia’s own royal regalia, complete with a sun-themed tiara and an additional white robes, looking like a tiny, radiant version of Celestia herself. It was… unsettlingly adorable.
"Is your version of myself your idol?" Celestia asked, slightly moving the faux tiara Sunset wore with her hoof. It was tilted to the side before she moved it.
The filly nodded.
They strolled down the Canterlot streets, and Celestia found herself torn between exasperation and amusement as they joined the throngs of foals already trick-or-treating. The group’s presence didn’t go unnoticed. Fillies and colts squealed when they saw Celestia.
One brave little colt in a royal guard costume walked up to her. “Princess, what are you dressed as?” he asked.
Celestia gave him her most dignified smile that was almost a grin behind her balaclava. “A secret operative for emergencies,” she replied, making a quiet gesture. The colt nodded in awe, clearly imagining her saving Equestria in her unique gear.
A few minutes of talking to children went by, before she looked at her group, “I’ll be far away from their doors.” she stated.
Chrysalis' ears swerved to the back of her head. "You won't be with us? But we gotour costumes now." She mumbled.
"What— oh no no no no! That's not what I mean." Celestia frantically waved a wing around, "What I mean is I'll be the farthest from the doors. I'll still be with you little ones." She clarified, looking skyward as if wanting divine intervention.
That seemed to satisfy them, and Celestia sighed with an inner smile. These were the former rulers, conquerors, and feared villains of various Equestrias—reduced to pint-sized candy collectors.
“So, which house shall we start with?” she asked, adjusting the tactical goggles she wore.
Midnight Sparkle pointed to the nearest door with a confident grin, and the whole group trotted up to it, group knocking on the door, bouncing in anticipation. The door creaked open, revealing an older unicorn stallion with a beard.
“Trick-or-Treat!” they chorused and brought up their bags, minus Celestia, who stood stoically behind them.
The stallion practically beamed. "Awh, how adorable! What are you all supposed to be?" He asked.
"Guard!" "Nightmare Moon!" "A prince!" "A vampire.." "Princess Celestia!" "A knight!" They all responded after the other, smiling.
The stallion smiled, using his magic to grab the prepared (comically large in the background) bowl of candy, when he looked behind them and froze, spotting the alicorn looming behind them.
Actually, now that the stallion thinks about it, she was larger than usual. As in, "that's a draft horse not a pony" larger than usual. There was literally a looming shadow over them and the moonlight was behind Celestia.
"I'm an operative, Trick-or-Treat,” Celestia said, her tone pure sugary-sweet, masking her exhaustion as her face stayed locked in a perfect Resting Bitch Face.
The noble stammered something incoherent, his magic fumbling to drop an excessive amount of candy into each foal’s basket, his eyes darting nervously back to Celestia, as if worried he’d incur her wrath if he wasn’t generous enough.
At every house, it was the same routine—Celestia waiting at the back, receiving varying degrees of shocked and terrified looks from adults who, in their attempts to please the foals, practically threw candy at them. Every time, she gently reminded the foals to wait until later to eat their treats since none of them had had a proper meal yet. This caused a bit of grumbling among her crew, but even they could tell she meant business.
She began to notice adults slipping a little more into the foals’ baskets as they progressed, while the foals giggled over their growing haul. She figured it might be her presence and not just their convincing costumes. Who would dare to risk giving brussels sprouts to the foals when Princess Celestia herself was right there, standing in judgment?
Unfortunately for them she had to teleport half of candy back to the original bowls, to which tiny Sombra screamed in frustration at her like a pissy bitc—
Thankfully they went to a few snobby and arrogant nobles houses for the Trick-or-Treating, so she got to release her emotions by looking as scary as possible; removing the tactile goggles and putting it above her eyes, removing her balaclava to grit her teeth as she spoke "Trick-or-Treat", and unfurling her wings a bit.
Safe to say the nobles wouldn't do anything bad for weeks, or look at her in the eye.
The real surprise came when she noticed something just past the houses, lurking in the shadows. Paparazzi.
Great. No doubt tomorrow’s headlines would be full of wild gossip and plenty of exaggerated accounts of Princess Celestia’s “reluctant participation” in Nightmare Night festivities.
Or the fact she was acting like their mom.
Not to mention, she’d also caught a few journalists and photographers lurking behind the hedges, cameras making noises every now and then as they recorded her every motherly “Trick-or-Treat” and resting expression, especially her adults-turned-children friends being adorable. Oh, the headlines tomorrow were going to be something.
Finally, as they were walking back down a cobblestone path, her shoulders aching from holding herself together in the face of the most grueling assignment she’d had in ages, Sombra piped up with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Hey, Tia,” he smirked. “Let’s hit one more house. Just for the candy. Pleaaaase?”
OH YOU SON OF A—!
She agreed after the others pleaded with puppy eyes.
(The photographers and journalists now have another headline where she was glaring at unsuspecting noble while speaking "Trick-or-TREAT" in the most disappointed tone ever.)
(She almosy regrets loving Halloween—or Nightmare Night.)
“GET BACK TO YOUR EQUESTRIA!” Celestia bellowed, attempting to push a squirming Chrysalis toward the portal, which shimmered ominously in the middle of her training room. The portal was tall enough to accommodate her alicorn stature, but she’d underestimated just how stubborn her tiny companions could be.
“I don’t wanna!” Chrysalis shrieked, planting her little hooves down with a magical resistance that, frankly, defied physics. Celestia, draft-horse-sized and all, was straining against the sheer obstinacy of this pint-sized changeling.
Celestia gritted her teeth.
How is this tiny thing so heavy?
Celestia was beyond tired. Trick-or-treating had been… chaotic, to put it mildly, and while she had managed to get the foals to eat a proper meal before diving into their candy hoard, wrangling them afterward had been its own form of Tartarus and hell combined. Now, she was trying to usher them all back to their respective Equestrias, and it was proving to be harder than ruling the kingdom itself.
Nightmare Moon, thankfully, was asleep, snoring softly under a pile of candy wrappers she had claimed as her bed. Midnight Sparkle had been cooperative enough to head for her portal without a fuss, but the rest? Not so much.
Absolutely not so fucking much.
Sombra, however, was another story. The little tyrant flailed and shrieked as Celestia attempted to steer him toward his portal. “NO! I’M NOT GOING BACK! I WANT MORE CANDY!” he yelled, voice echoing through the room.
Before Celestia could even respond, a tiny hoof shot out from beside him.
SMACK! Filly Sunset, who had up to now remained rather calm, had slapped Sombra hard enough to stun him into silence, looking at him in pure annoyance.
“Thank you, Sunset, you get Sombra's candy. Just five pieces.” Celestia sighed in mild relief, though she had no doubt Sombra would start wailing again as soon as he recovered.
"Midnight—Midnight dearie thank you for being patient and NIGHTMARE MOON GET BACK HERE OH MY GOD—" Celestia’s horn flared, grabbing the tiny princess out of the air before she could devour an entire section of padding.
“What is happening? Are you stupid once you wake up? Gotta charge your mind?” Celestia muttered, lifting Nightmare Moon like a doll to eye level, who merely giggled as her tiny hooves flailed, refusing to talk.
"And—TEMPEST! NO!" Tempest had made a break for it, sprinting to the far side of the room.
As Celestia lunged for her, tiny Nightmare Moon took the opportunity to start chewing on one of the training dummies, apparently convinced it was made of cotton candy. Celestia managed to snatch her up by the scruff like a wayward kitten, barely dodging a mouthful of fluff.
She turned back toward Tempest—who had once again darted off— she chased her and promptly tripped on a rogue candy wrapper, sending her crashing face-first onto the floor with an undignified squawk, her crown skidding off somewhere with her.
“Haha! She fell! The fool fe—” Sombra’s taunt was cut short as Celestia’s magic flared. She lifted him up, gave him a little (not a little) shake for good measure, and then flung him unceremoniously through direction of his portal as he let out a surprised yelp as Celestia also chucked his bowl of candy to the portal.
Celestia staggered to her hooves, mane askew, eyes twitching, and gave the room a final, frazzled sweep before her mane blazed into fire.
“Plan B for you foals." She calmly stated, "I'm going to let you keep all of your candy, if you go inside your Equestrias. If."
The room went still. The foals shared glances, a mix of awe and sudden obedience softening their expressions. They nodded in unison, an agreement finally reached.
True to her polite reincarnated human nature, Midnight Sparkle was the first to go. She offered Celestia a quick, dignified bow and slipped through her portal without so much as a complaint. Tempest, after a brief goodbye nod that was almost sentimental, walked through hers.
Chrysalis, on the other hoof, required a bit of magical… assistance. With her little limbs kicking in protest as she held a bowl of candy, Celestia lifted her up and floated her toward the portal, sighing as she hovered there for a final, somewhat sarcastic "Goodbye, Princess Celestia." "Be lucky you won't remember most of this day, idiot. I'll miss your Fluttershy persona-self." The moment Chrysalis’s hoof disappeared, Celestia dropped her magic, watching with profound relief as the portal closed.
Finally, there was Sunset. Celestia was about to nudge her gently forward when, to her astonishment, a familiar white hoof emerged from the portal. It reached toward Sunset, guiding her gently through as her friend waved bye at her. The same hoof then plucked the overflowing bowl of candy out of Celestia’s magical grasp. Celestia stared, half-convinced she’d imagined it.
But as the portal began to close, she swore she heard a warm voice, soft and fond, floated back to her.
“Thank you.”
...
"Well that wasn't ominous at all!" Celestia exclaimed to herself.
She's going to need to clean the whole floor from the candy wrappers.
She's going to punch her friends once they turn back into adults in the next couple of hours.
She smacks them in the back of their heads with a newspaper the next day that had headlines of "PRINCESS CELESTIA: SECRET MOTHER?" and "PRINCESS CELESTIA JOINS NIGHTMARE NIGHT".
Author's Note
I don't know why I made Sombra like this lol, I think I just wanted him to be a spoiled brat???
