A Nightmare Night of Horror Tales
Disclaimer: "My Little Pony" is owned by Hasbro. I just own Casey, and Beck was created by FanficFan920. All the songs and stories told in here belong to their rightful owners respectively.
Luna's moon shone brightly in the Nightmare Night sky. Mares, Stallions, and foals of all ages were adorned in their costumes for Nightmare Night.
Most ponies in the quaint little hamlet of Ponyville thought that after last year's Nightmare Night, when Princess Luna herself joined the festival, there wouldn't be a better one, but a certain newly-redeemed Earth Pony was ready to change that.
"You ready, Casey?" Beck said backstage, dressed in a cloak that made him look like a macabre storyteller.
"I still can't believe you talked me into this," Casey said, who was currently dressed as a royal guard. I'd rather wear the cloak that Rarity gave me for my birthday.
"Come on, it'll be fun," assured Beck, wrapping his right front-leg around Casey. "These stories I came up with are gonna scare everypony's costumes off."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Casey muttered, as well as moving the middle-aged pony's leg away from him. "And what did I told you about personal space?"
Although his special somepony had been able to help Beck realize the error of his ways, Casey was still understandably displeased with him, and a sheepish Beck said, "I know, I know, my bad… um… I'll just go over here."
Watching Beck walk away, Casey let out a sigh, and muttered, "Just have fun with whatever he's planning… it can't be that bad, right?"
So, while the young pony was trying to remain positive, Beck had gone over to where he would receive his musical accompaniment from.
"Thanks so much for doing this you two," he said, giving the two a grateful smile.
"Oh, no, my dear…" replied Octavia, who was making her final preparations on her piano, "I must thank you. It's been too long since I've played on one of these."
The other musically-talented pony, Vinyl Scratch, simply nodded in acknowledgement before continuing to prepare her turntable.
"We're starting when Casey pulls the curtain, good luck," Beck said as he went back to his place, and looked over at said pony. "Alright, then, you ready to do this thing?"
Twilight's special somepony nodded her head, and he replied, "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's do this."
Casey sighed in resignation before pulling a lever that pulled the curtain to the sides. Vinyl and Octavia's music then began to play and fog billowed across the stage. The aforementioned stallion walked out, addressing some of the curious ponies looking his way.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are gathered tonight, because of the demon that haunts the dark," said Beck, as he stepped onto the stage. "One that devours the souls of the innocent… here is the tale of Nightmare Night!"
Insert "Nightmare Night" by WoodenToaster
Yeah
Watchu know 'bout Nightmare Night son?
Welcome Fillies and Gentlecolts ;No reason to scream
Your favorite Princess is back; She's walkin' up on the scene
As Beck began to sing, Casey pressed one of the small buttons on his wristwatch, and this caused the special effects that had been set up to activate, with the stage now surrounded in a shadowy mist.
She has been stuck on the moon but that's no reason to fret
She's not a Nightmare no more so buckle down and get set
She's comin gracin' her subjects; She ain't leavin' no choice
She's gonna blow you all back with her Equestrian voice
So cover all of your fears and stow away all your fright
The Lunar Princess is back to bring the Nightmares tonight
[Chorus: Casey]
She's living in the past
So you won't last
Without the proper care
With a royal farewell
And an animate spell
You won't have long to prepare
Soon, the ponies of Ponyville, drawn to the music and Beck's odd style of singing, began approaching the outdoor stage, including a certain Alicorn Princess and her friends.
"What are they up to now?" She asked in a slightly weary tone.
"It's just singin', Twi, how bad can it be?" Applejack replied as the Mane Six, Starlight, and Spike looked on.
[Verse 2: Beck]
Now little fillies this is Nightmare Night
Your ruler Nightmare Moon is back;
To come and fill you with fright
"You know, this song's kind of catchy," said Rainbow, which made the others look at her in surprise. "What? It's true…"
So Hurry
Now get your goodies and fill up all your bags
And go and leave a candy offering for that big ol' hag
Get runnin'
And pray above that she's not coming back
To come and take away your soul and eat you up for a snack
So run away and go hide just keep your head out of sight
The darkness is rising again cause this is Nightmare Night"
[Chorus: Casey]
She's living in the past
So you won't last
Without the proper care
With a royal farewell
And an animate spell
You won't have long to prepare
After some more techno music for a minute or two, the song faded, eliciting hoof-taps from the crowd, including some Fillies and colts who wanted close-up seats.
"See? Told ya!" said Rainbow Dash, and Twilight just rolled her eyes while Beck started to talk about what would be happening next.
"Thank you, Ponyville! Now, contrary to what you've just seen, this is not a concert... of music, at least. Do you remember the good ole days when you told scary stories by the campfire?"
Several of the attendees nodded their heads, and a smiling Beck added, "Well, on this Nightmare Night, I bring you several stories that are sure to make you rethink your life. Our first story of the evening: 'The Cough.'"
Immediately, some of the foals in the crowd began laughing, and Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle as she said, "It's called what now?"
Unfazed by the audience's laughter, Beck announced, "Oh, you laugh now, but just you wait…"
Then, creepy-sounding music started to play as Beck began his tale.
"It's in the not to distant future, and Equestria was in shambles."
Gasps ran through the crowd.
"A deadly virus, whose only symptom is a cough, has spread throughout the land, killing thousands. Nowhere is safe, except for one windowless room, where we find our characters: Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy."
A look of confusion appeared on AJ's face as she said, "Uh, come again? Why are we the characters in this story?"
"No talking during story time!" Beck shouted, and a frowning Applejack started to walk towards her, but Twilight stopped the young Earth Pony from going any farther by blocking AJ with one of her wings.
"Let's just see how all this turns out, okay? I'm sure it's just some harmless fun…"
As Beck began to tell the story, Applejack scoffed, and muttered, "I don't know about fun just yet, but I'm gonna do some sort of harm to him if he ends up gettin' on my nerves."
############
Due to not wanting the author(s) of this story, as well as the others that are soon-to-come, to be mad at us for using said stories (and story length constraints on our part), we will only show small portions of them.
And, since links cannot be posted on here, you'll have to look them up via Google and YouTube (for the songs).
##############
I know you well enough to realize that you'd never just stand aside and let one of us lay a hoof on your fillyfriend. Maybe intellectually you'd know that it's necessary-
"Hold up! I'm Fluttershy's WHAT now?!" Rainbow Dash asked, unaware that a blush was now adorning her blue coat.
Beck paused his storytelling to roll his eyes, and he replied, "Yes, for the sake of the story, you and Fluttershy are together. Now, what did I say about talking?"
Whatever Rainbow had felt earlier was now replaced with irritation, while Beck said, "Now... where was I? Oh, yes..."
#############
"In the darkness... somepony... coughed. The End."
Casey, who was hidden backstage, let out a loud purposeful cough, startling some of the littler foals in the crowd.
"Who coughed? Who coughed?" Some of the younger foals cried out in anticipation.
"Well, you have five choices, you figure it out," Beck said.
Starlight let out a small chuckle, and replied, "Glad to know it wasn't me, then."
Rainbow turned her head towards her, and the unicorn sheepishly said, "Sorry…"
"Well there was no way it'd be Applejack, she couldn't lie to save her life," Apple Bloom pointed out.
While Applejack placed a hoof against her forehead, the crowd argued amongst themselves about who they think coughed for another minute before Beck gained their attention once more.
"Alright! That was our first spooky story of five tonight. Our second tale is simply called, 'A Cupcake Rocket to Insanity,'"
Once again, some of the foals snickered at the title, and even Pinkie Pie found herself giggling.
"What did I say about laughing at titles? Anyway..."
##############
"Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad.
'Ok, now what?' Dash asked.
'Now,' Pinkie informed her, 'You take a nap.'
Puzzled, Dash opened her mouth but felt instantly lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over her, the world spun, and seconds later she collapsed to the floor," Beck told.
"What's Pinkie gonna do to her?!" Scootaloo yelled in panic.
"Hey! We're right over here!" exclaimed Rainbow, but Pinkie quickly shushed her, saying that she didn't want the story to be ruined.
"I betcha she's gonna tear out her insides and make 'em into cupcakes," Diamond Tiara mocked, having not been scared in the slightest at the previous story and, so far, this one.
##############
"'But why? What's happening? I thought you said I was going to help make cupcakes.'
"'You are helping. You see, I ran out of the special ingredient and I need you to get more.'
"'Special ingredient?' Dash was now breathing heavily and starting to panic. 'What special ingredient?'
"Pinkie giggled and responded 'You, silly!'" Beck said enthusiastically in his best Pinkie impression.
"Hey, that almost sounds like me!" called out Pinkie, and the rest of her friends all looked at her. "What?"
Meanwhile, the entire crowd turned to a shocked Diamond Tiara.
"It was just a joke! I swear!" The spoiled filly defends herself.
#############
"Rainbow Dash was tearing up. How could this be happening?
'Aww don't be sad Dash,' Pinkie said 'Look this'll cheer you up. I brought you a friend.'
Out of seemingly nowhere, Pinkie displayed a blue and yellow painted skull. It was about pony sized, but it had a very defining feature: a beak.
Dash was freaking out. 'Is…is that….is…that?'"
"She got Gilda too?!" Pip Squeek said in astonishment.
"You know, I'm oddly okay with that," Scootaloo said.
###############
The crying Rainbow Dash heard the sound of a metal box opening and closing.
'Got it! Say Dash, why do they call it a hack saw? It doesn't hack; hacking is what I was doing with the knife. This is a saw. I don't get it.'" Beck said, again speaking in his best Pinkie impersonation.
"Yeah, that DOESN'T make any sense," Pinkie realized.
Everypony looked at the pink party Pony with a disturbed gaze.
"What did I say now?"
################
"'Looks like I got my I on you, Dash.'
"With a moist, gooey sound, the new door flapped opened. The sight of her own organs and the lack of feeling caused Dash's breathing to intensify.
"Pinkie sliced open the abdominal sac and grabbed the large intestines-"
"Okay!" Twilight said hurriedly, not entirely pleased with what her redeemed prisoner was saying. "Can we maybe speed this along? We get the idea."
Beck rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Fine, let's see here… Okay, so basically Rainbow was mutilated and vivisected badly..." he then returned to his spooky voice. "...The last thing Dash felt was her skin being cut away from her skull, the metal scraping her teeth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAHH, AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Screams echoed through the cloud palace of Rainbow Dash's home…
"Wait? What?! It was all a dream?!" Apple Bloom said in outrage.
"What a rip-off!" Silver Spoon commented.
"Story's not done yet, so zip it," Beck ordered.
As for Rainbow, she started to have flashbacks of the world that Rowan had sent her too, and wondered if that Pinkie was the same one in Beck's story.
No, of course not… right?
#################
"This wasn't healthy. Her mind was slowly breaking under the horrors of her subconscious mind, things that nopony should ever even have the slightest thought about chipping away at her psyche.
She was starting to crack," Beck said.
"I'm not liking where this is going," Rarity observed.
"Shhhh," Rainbow Dash silenced, taking a bite of popcorn she brought with her for some reason. "I want to hear what happens."
##################
"The energetic earth pony bounced about the kitchen, over towards one of the many ovens of the Candy Corner before pulling the door down, reaching in and pulling out a tray of puffy, fluffy cupcakes with a generous slathering of icing upon them.
"She spun around, grinning widely as she showed the baked goods off to Dash. 'I made you cupcakes!'"
"Just like in her dream!" Scootaloo commented.
"What did I say about talking?!" Beck yelled.
###############
"The voice within her mind whispered to her like a seductive lover, sounding so wrong but so right at the same time… 'Kill her.'"
The foals in the audience began to shiver, either in fright or anticipation.
################
"'P-please...P-pinkie...run...just run...oh Celestia, PLEASE don't make me do this!'
KILL HER. KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILLHERKILLHERKILLHE-" Beck began yelling at the top of his lungs.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! MOOOOOOOOOMMMM!" A Brown colt yelled in fright as he ran off.
"Well, that's one down," Beck commented before continuing, while Twilight hoof-faced herself.
################
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed out, fear turning to rage. "YOU COULDN'T JUST GO AWAY, COULD YOU?! YOU HAD TO KEEP COMING BACK!"
Pinkie's struggles grew weaker and weaker, her eyes wide with terror as tears streamed down her face, visage frozen in a mix of fear and anguish. What did she do? Was it the icing? Did she use salt instead of sugar? Why?
As those slowly glazing eyes stared up at Dash, the strikes of the blade grew slower and slower, the pegasus finally plunging the implement deep into Pinkie's chest, spearing through the filly's heart, ending her party once and for all.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO! Say it ain't so, Dashie?! Why? Why'd you do it?!" Pinkie cried overdramatically.
Beck, annoyance clearly gracing his visage, decided to utilize one of Twilight's tricks to prevent any further disruptions from the pink earth pony.
"I mean, Celestia knows they're bound to be more," Beck muttered. "Hey Pinkie!"
"Yes?" She turned her head towards Beck, breaking charcter in a nanosecond.
"I triple Diamond Dog dare you to yawn the ABC's," he said.
"You're on!" Pinkie began yawning several times before she was sprawled out in the street, asleep like a little filly, and both Twilight and Applejack sent Beck dirty looks.
###############
"Nopony had murdered another in hundreds of years. Voices within her mind clawed and whispered to her, the world spinning around her as time seemed to stand still for her, the last vestiges of her sanity being plucked apart, one by one...until that final thread finally snapped."
"Oh no," Scootaloo muttered in fear, now picturing her idol, her surrogate sister, losing her mind.
"Hooves grasped at her head, matting her rainbow-colored mane down with blood and ichor, the pegasus rocking back and forth in the blooded kitchen as a crazed grin spread across her muzzle, humming disjointedly to herself.
"...g-giggle at the ghastly...heehee...s-snortle at the spooOOooky...haha...heheheeheeeehaha! HAHAH! AHAHAHAHA! HAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!" Dash threw her head back, curling legs against her chest as forelimbs wrapped around them, psychotic laughter issuing forth from the speedster pegasus as her world shattered around her, psyche and spirit broken and splintered.
Then, after he took a pause for dramatic effect...
"The End," Beck said in an upbeat tone, like the last story had no effect on him whatsoever.
Wide eyes and agape mouth were his only responses, and now that Beck had finished telling his story, a cheeky grin appeared on Casey's face.
Alright, now, it's my turn to have some real fun!
"So, now, my amazing audience," said Beck, unaware of what was about to happen. "Let us continue on to - aaahh!"
To everyone's surprise, Beck suddenly fell straight down, due to Casey activating a trap-door that he'd installed, but the mist made it seem like Beck had vanished into thin air.
"Man, I've been waiting forever to do that," said Casey, who was now front and center on the stage, wearing his cloak that Rarity had made for him. "Alright, everyone, now it's my turn to tell some really Nightmare Night-worthy stories!"
After swallowing her popcorn, Rainbow walked over to Twilight, and whispered, "I didn't know Casey could act like that!"
"Neither did I…" said the young princess, who was now taking a closer look at him.
"The next story is called Rainbow Factory," announced Casey, who was now speaking in a different tone. "And here's how it begins…"
###############
"There's long been rumors as to how, exactly, rainbows are made in Equestria. While a great amount of Pegasi ponies are employed in the Rainbow department of the weather factory, almost all of them do the low-end work. What's know is that great streams of Spectra, the individual colours of the rainbow, flow through large grates and into vast vats.
"From there, workers carefully and equally mix the spectra into the coagulated rainbow pools that dot and run through the factory and surrounding city. Next, that mixture is pumped to the floor below, where other employees atomize it and store it until the active weather Pegasi deploy it in field.
"However, no one knows how individual Spectra is made. Supplies are never seen being brought in, leaving not even a clue what goes into a rainbow. Tourists, when visiting the factory, are treated to an extremely foreboding and plain wall, with massive solid doors baring entry to anypony at any time.
"While most of the facility's various signs and architecture is bubbly and welcoming, the Rainbow Factory's upper floor was protected by harsh imagery of potential hazards and death, and the cloud wall was made not out of the clean white of the rest of the city, but of a black, quietly thundering fog.
"To become an employee of the upper Rainbow Factory mean sacrificing any life outside those black walls. Workers are sworn to secrecy and forbidden from leaving, and live inside the facility itself. Those few who ever managed to make it out not in a body bag were twisted and disturbed, too damaged to ever bring themselves to talk about it.
"A lot of theories were proposed; Dark magic from captured unicorns, chemicals and environmental hazards that no sane pony would tolerate, and even thoughts of another unknown sister of Celestia's, destined to create the Spectra instead of raise a sun or moon.
"None of them could be farther than the truth," Casey said, and suddenly, Octavia's piano began to play while he began to sing.
Now a rainbow's tale isn't quite as nice
As the story we knew of sugar and spice
But a rainbow's easy once you get to know it
With the help of the magic of the Pegasus Device
The curtain behind Casey fell away to reveal a model of said "Pegasus Device," which consisted of a converyer belt transporting small models of Pegasai into a device that smashed them flat.
While this reveal deeply unsettled the crowd, the pegasai were particularly disturbed, one of them being Scootaloo.
Let's delve deeper into rainbow philosophy
Far beyond that of Cloudsdale's mythology
It's easy to misjudge that floating city
With its alluring decor and social psychology
But with all great things comes a great responsibility
That of Cloudsdale's being weather stability
How, do you ask, are they up to the task
To which the answer is in a simple facility
More techno music played as Beck's model kept working.
"Man, these are really catchy songs," Rainbow commented.
The rest of her frineds, iuncluding Pinkie, who woke up once the music began playing, looked on at the rainbow-maned Pegasus with either confused or incredulous looks.
"What?
In the Rainbow Factory, where your fears and horrors come true
In the Rainbow Factory, where not a single soul gets through
In the Rainbow Factory, where your fears and horrors come true
Once the music sttled down, Casey began the tale.
###############
"What did those horrible people do," the pink pegasus screamed, growing angrier by the minute.
"The mysterious pony whipped off her mask, unveiling more than her rose eyes. Her skin was a light cyan, and her mane was a gorgeous rainbow. Several of the fillies gasped; Scootaloo's knees weakened as it hit her. It was Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo's thoughts raced through her mind, and the room started spinning. It couldn't be.
"An evil twin, maybe. Perhaps some neglected sister. Rainbow Dash couldn't be this evil. She was her friend, her mentor... her only family, even if not by blood. How... How? How was all she could think."
"How, how, how!" cried Scootaloo, but she quickly became quiet after everypony in the audience shushed her.
As for Rainbow, she was quickly eating more and more of the popcorn from her bag, but stopped after noticing the looks that she was receiving from her friends.
"What now?"
Starlight gestured over to Casey, and she said, "I'm surprised you're okay with him telling this."
Rainbow rolled her eyes, and replied, "Well, duh, obviously… it's just a story! It didn't actually happen."
#################
"I hardly knew you, Aurora," Scootaloo cooed softly into the yellow pegasus beside her. "I'm sorry I never knew you until all this. I'm sorry we had to meet like this, and I'm sorry we have to part like this." She sniffed. She had found more tears.
"Any meeting of a friend is a welcome meeting," Aurora reassured Scootaloo. "Now, you heard the other pony. Fly, Scootaloo. Fly. Goodbye."
"...Goodbye, Aurora." With that, Scootaloo, levitated and spun around, looked into the yellow pony's eyes one last time, and launched down the cramped corridor. She had no idea where she was going, but any chance at freedom was one she had to take.
Scootaloo gasped, and she whispered, "No! Aurora!"
"Will you please be quiet 'till the story's over?" hissed Sweetie Belle. "You don't even know a pony named Aurora."
#################
She could hardly shake.
The chains lifted her slightly, bringing her small body eye to eye with a pegasus in front of her. The pony was a deep, blood red, glistening in the artificial light of The Factory. Her mane had small spots of glorious colours of the rainbow, but was mostly the same red colour as her coat of fur. Chunks of skin were missing from small spots, and her hair was ripped in some places, bald patches of skin in others. The only clue Scootaloo had as to who this used to be were the rose iris' focused on her.
Music began to play once again.
"This is Rainbow Dash singing this by the way," Casey noted.
"But I'm right - ohhh, the one in the story," said Rainbow, nodding her head as she continued to eat popcorn.
Begin-Peagasus Device by Sylphstorm
Deep in the pages of history
Lies a shadow hiding in a mystery
A late night story buried far away
Until it once again sees the light of day
And when the little colts and fillies turn out all lights
And tell a story of a factory as black as night
The luxury of rainbows comes at a price
Just ignore the screams, and don't think twice
You've proven to yourself and to all of us
That you're not fit to fly like a Pegasus
You don't even deserve those wings you bear
When you stand beside a legend, you don't even compare
All of the failures help to fuel success
In the bloody and visceral weather game of Chess
And just because you've disappointed you'll pay the price
Now accept your fate and die in the Pegasus Device
"Let me guess, this song is catchy, too, right?" wondered Applejack, and Rainbow nodded her head. "Why am I not surprised?"
As for Twilight, she was starting to feel a little worried since the young alicorn never imagined that Casey could act like the way he was right now.
Phantom screams echo through the ruined facility
A horrible silence builds an eerie tranquility
The souls of many innocent fill the air
And the hope that they all died with scattered here and there
A mighty machine built within the wake
Of a long dead dream, little demon awake
The citizens sleep, never quite knowing when
The device will reawaken, hungry again
You've proven to yourself and to all of us
That you're not fit to fly like a Pegasus
You don't even deserve those wings you bear
When you stand beside a legend, you don't even compare
All of the failures help to fuel success
In the bloody and visceral weather game of Chess
And just because you've disappointed you'll pay the price
Now accept your fate and die in the Pegasus Device
All of the failures help to fuel success
In the bloody and visceral weather game of Chess
And just because you've disappointed you'll pay the price
Now accept your fate and die in the Pegasus Device
As the music went into a quick instrumental, Casey noted, "This next verse is done by Scootaloo."
I don't even remember my past
I don't remember who I used to be
I don't even remember my friends of old
I don't remember my destiny
My mane is purple and my coat is orange
What I've become? I have no idea.
I only know one simple thing
The name they gave me: Absentia
You've proven to yourself and to all of us
That you're not fit to fly like a Pegasus
You don't even deserve those little wings you bear
When you stand beside a legend, you don't even compare
All of the failures help to fuel success
In the bloody and visceral weather game of Chess
And just because you've disappointed you'll pay the price
Now accept your fate and die in the Pegasus Device
I don't even recognize your rainbow mane
When you hide it behind that mask of shame
You don't even deserve those wings you bear
You used to be a legend, a righteous mare
All of the failures help to fuel success
In the bloody and visceral weather game of Chess
And then you sit upon your throne and you roll your diamond dice
And you send us all to die in your Pegasus Device
In the Rainbow Factory, where fears and horrors come true
In the Rainbow Factory, where not a single soul gets through
In the Rainbow Factory, where failures pay their toll
Now I've awoken, and I'm taking back control
Scootaloo pumped her hoof in the air, and she cried, "Whoo-hoo! I've taken control!"
Her fellow Crusaders just rolled their eyes.
#################
"Any final words, you miserable worthless whore of a foal?"
Scootaloo brought her chin high, still demanding even the tiniest fraction of dignity.
"You have beautiful eyes," she cooed, soft, yet clearly.
The End
As she clapped her hooves together, a smiling Pinkie looked over at Twilight. "You know, Casey's doing a great job with these stories!"
"Yeah… a little too good," replied Twilight, who watched her special somepony take a bow.
Rainbow swallowed several pieces of her popcorn, and she said, "Relax, Casey's just having some fun! I haven't seen him this happy since we saw that one Earth Pony who… um… you okay, Fluttershy?"
The nervous-looking yellow Pegasus nodded her head, and replied, "Um… yes… I think…"
As the mist slowly rose up into the air, Casey said, "Now, this next story is called The Experiments of Twilight Sparkle… and I need you to be my volunteer."
At first, everypony assumed that he'd been referring to the alicorn princess, but Casey shook his head, and pointed again at the pony he'd chosen.
"Yay! This is gonna be sooo exciting!" cried Pinkie, who happily made her way up to the stage, while Twilight's concern grew a little more.
Once Pinkie was next to Casey, she asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"For now, just listen like everyone else," replied the young Earth Pony. "You'll know when I need you…"
Then, after clearing his throat, Casey began to tell his next spooky story. "It was just a regular day in Ponyville, and Twilight was celebrating a party with her friends - AJ, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie…"
"How come I'm not in any of these stories?" wondered Starlight, and Spike shrugged his shoulders, then continued to listen to the story
"Just when it seemed like they'd done every type of fun party activity, Twilight suggested that they go downstairs to her secret laboratory…"
Pinkie chuckled, and she said, "Well, it's not really a secret since I went there back when - sorry."
Casey let out a sigh, and continued on. "Once they were all inside, Twilight had the five of them strapped safely to their own table, saying that she wanted to do an experiment that would help get a better understanding of their Cutie Marks."
Then, he pulled out a plastic knife, and after the audience let out a worried gasp, Casey cried, "Don't worry, everypony, it's completely harmless!"
In order to prove his point, Casey handed it to Pinkie so she could take a look at it, and the pink pony nodded her head. "Yep! Only think it could harm is a piece of cake!"
Some of the audience began to laugh, but Twilight still had a bad feeling about his story.
"So, once the unicorn assured her friends that everything would be fine, Twilight walked back over to a strapped-down Pinkie…"
Twilight let out a sigh, deciding that she was probably getting worked up over nothing, but then, as Casey moved closer towards Pinkie, her eyes went wide as she saw the butter knife slowly transform into a sharp-edged one.
"Ohhh, the suspense is killing me," whispered Sweetie Belle, excited to hear about what would happen next.
"Then, to everypony's horror, Twilight did something so terrible that - oof!"
But then, Casey was interrupted by the sudden arrival of his special somepony, who'd knocked him down to the ground.
"Oh, come on!" whined Rarity's little sister.
Before Pinkie or Casey could say anything, Twilight said, "We'll be taking a quick break, everypony… um… enjoy this free candy!"
Using her magic, Twilight made a large pile of delicious treats appear nearby, much to the pleasure of the young audience, which included the CMCs.
"Just don't eat too much, Sweetie Bell, or you'll get a stomach ache tomorrow morning," called out Rarity.
"Same goes for you, too, Applebloom!" shouted Applejack.
"Hey, Scootaloo! Make sure you save me some, alright?" cried Rainbow, causing the other two to look at her, in irritation. "What, who turns down free candy?"
As for Twilight, she'd taken Casey (who lookee more like his regular self) and Pinkie to the back of the stage, where the light-orange pony asked, "Did I scare you too much, Twilight? You know I wasn't really going to-"
"Oh, really? Then, why don't you explain this to me!" cried Twilight, waving the butter knife in front of them, and the two Earth Ponies shared a look of confusion.
"Um, that's a butter knife, Twilight," said Pinkie.
"We use it to cut stuff like cake, bread, burgers, and whatnot," added Casey.
Suddenly, the trap-door that Beck fell in earlier flung open, said stallion emerging from its depth, panting feverishly.
"What the Tartarus, Casey!"
Casey just gave Beck a sly grin, and replied, "I'm supposed to have fun, right?"
Before Beck could yell some more, Pinkie looked at Casey's wristwatch, and she said, "Wow, you were in there longer than I thought!"
"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Beck, who felt like he'd been inside of an oven for hours.
She gestured over to the trap door that he'd just come out of, and said, "You could've gotten out at anytime you want-"
"Okay, hold up!" cried Twilight, and she pointed a hoof at Beck. "Give me one good reason why I should allow you to continue this 'show'."
"Because there's only one more story left?" Beck said, treading lightly.
You know, he's got a point," whispered Pinkie, and Twilight just glared at her before turning back to Beck.
"If it is the last story, then that's okay... but YOU are telling it."
Then, she turned to look at Casey, and added, "YOU and I are going to have a talk about what I saw."
"Twilight, I'm telling you, it's only a butter kni - ow!" cried Casey, whose ear was now being pulled by Twilight, and he glared at Beck before they left. "Good luck topping what I did up there - ow!"
As Pinkie happily bounced after them, Beck had a devious smile plastered across his face. "Oh, don't worry… I plan too."
A short time later, the stallion walked back onto the stage, and he cleared his throat before speaking to the audience.
"Attention everypony, and listen well - I have one more story to tell. So listen up, my little ponies, because it's time for the tale of the Candy Mare..."
###############
Still there was nothing but silence. Well... almost. There was that high, girlish giggling again. It sounded like... It sounded like it was coming from the cauldron, but that couldn't be right. It didn't make any sense. How could the girls be hiding in that bubbling hot mess?
Applejack moved tentatively towards the cauldron, her eyes darting back and forth. Beyond the glow of the fire, there was nothing but darkness, mist, and fading moonlight.
The smoke from the partially quenched fire burned her eyes as she looked into the big black pot, ready to jump back at the first sign of a trick. She froze.
Her eyes locked on to the sad, shriveled up figure curled into a ball at the bottom of the pot.
She was completely covered in bubbling brown sugar, but even so, Applejack could tell right away the tiny figure was her sister.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Pip Squeak yelled as he fled the area in the steps of Button Mash.
"And there goes two," Beck muttered.
Diamond Tiara scoffed, and Applebloom turned to look at her. "What? You know you'd have the done same thing if you were him."
"Oh, please, I've had nightmares way scarier than these so-called horror stories," pointed out the small pony. "They have yet to terrify me."
#################
The last thing that flickered across her consciousness before she finally died was the figure raising her into the air and smiling, giggling all the while... And then taking another bite of the caramel coated Applejack.
Pinkie took one quick look at the orange Earth Pony, who said, "Pinkie, I swear to Celestia, if you even think about…"
"I was just kidding!" giggled Pinkie. "You're not still upset that I grabbed-"
Applejack glared at her friend, and she said, "I don't wanna talk about that."
#################
Please... Allow me to indulge the child. I do so love to see a happy, smiling face on somepony who truly appreciates my confections. It won't hurt her, I assure you. Here child, try this one, I think you will find it most interesting.
Oh, this one tastes funny Da. It's sweet enough but it also tastes kind of chilly. I feel funny.
Well of course you do sweetheart. All that sugar in yer little body, bound to make you feel odd. I think that's enough gov. Begging your pardon, but she's just not used to such fancy things as you have here.
No Da, I feel really, really weird. All floaty and...strange. Da...Da...where are you? Why can't I see? Why can't I hear!?
…
What...what did you do? Where did she go?
She's underfoot I'm sure. Most children are. But nothing you need concern yourself with. The child is quite safe. You, on the other hoof...well. The city is quite dangerous, you know. There's magic about. Ponies appearing and disappearing all the time. One more little pony disappearing won't bother anyone.
Stay back! What are you doing with those knives!?
I thought that was obvious dear fellow. Making you disappear.
"Why are we even talking about this filly? She has nothing to do with the story at all," Diamond Tiara snobbishly commented.
"All will make sense in due time O' Spoiled One, now please just zip it!" replied Beck.
####################
Batch five three three nine. Subject indicates that the meat has a spoiled flavor and is difficult to chew. May have to allow for further aging to break down connective tissues. Application of heat might help with this, as well as the flavor, but advise avoiding this until a method of disguising the stench of cooking pony flesh can be devised.
P-pony flesh? W-what did you feed me?
Subjects parental unit.
...What?
Or what was left of him. Most of him is in the midden heap by now, but I thought I'd keep a few scraps to try aging techniques on his meat. It's chewy, you say? I'd hoped it would be fairly tender by now. Oh dear, retching again? I'll have to reactivate the cleansing spells all over again.
Wh-why? Why would you do this to me? Daddy...daddy no...no...*sob*
"Oh, that poor little pony," sobbed Rarity, who was also the next pony to receive looks from her friends. "What? Don't judge me…"
Hold on, what's this? Somepony is in the main shop. Who's there? I warn you, I will call the castle guard if you try to steal any of my creations. What? Little miss...what are you doing out of the testing chamber?
...hungry...
Hungry? Of course, of course, I'm working on another batch of confections for you right now. Just go back to the testing chamber...there's a good girl.
...but it's Nightmare Night...heh...
Nightmare night. You said that before...hmm...perhaps my experiment isn't quite the success I'd hoped. Still, come along, we'll see what we can do in the next phase of testing.
...but it's Nightmare Night...oh what a fright...I hunger...I need...I want...Oh, please, please, pleasepleaseplease...give me something sweet to bite bite BITE!...heheheh...
What are you doing? No...no, no!
Heheheheheh...so sweet...fresh meat.
"Oh, my Celestia, this is getting intense!" whispered an excited Rainbow, still munching on some popcorn, and Applejack looked at her, in disbelief.
"How in the hay have you not finished that bag yet?"
Yet as the dust cleared, something stood motionless in the smoking crater that was left behind, surrounded by empty bags. Something that smiled.
"...hungry..."
"Hungry hippos!" whispered Pinkie, and she softly giggled at her own response.
"What's the matter with you girls!? Don't ya like apples!?" said Applebloom's voice as her grotesque, severed head mimed the words.
Piercing childlike laughter echoed inside the barn as the head shot out of the darkness and rolled at the fillies hooves.
Both girls screamed, backing away from the horrible sight. "It doesn't matter! It's NIGHTMARE NIGHT! WHAT A FRIGHT!" howled many voices.
They swiftly faded to a child's whisper, the hushed tones of a promise, "Soon there will be so many...sweets...to...bite."
Beck's talent in storytelling was showing in full force. His pauses between words wereadding to the tension of the story, and the Crusaders now were beginning to get very unsettled.
"You girls hanging in there okay?" Apple Bloom asked, obviously scared senseless.
"Yeah," Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle agreed, though one could easily tell they were both lying.
The Candy Mare only laughed harder, dancing in the shower of viscera as she tore the filly apart above her head, gobbling up the goblets of pony gore with many candy mouths opening and closing all over her body.
Diamond Tiara looked over at Silver Spoon, and she nervously said, "Um… t-that wasn't really that scary to you, right?"
Her best friend shook her head, and replied, "N-no, of course not… w-why? Did you…"
"Who, me?" Diamond Tiara quickly shook her head. "N-no, don't be silly…"
Swallowing her gorge, Twilight found a piece of slightly less blood soaked candy and did her best not to vomit as she joined in. The taste of blood and chocolate mixed disgustingly on her palate.
As the fog cleared completely and the moon started to sink toward the horizon, the town square was filled with the sounds of ponies sobbing...and eating.
The way Beck said "eating" had many ponies unnerved, including one of Twilight's friends.
"Something tells me we shouldn't have eaten that candy," Pinkie commented.
"Nightmare Night..." a voice giggled. A new jack-o-lantern flared to life just below the Pinkie monstrosity's grinning face. Her teeth were pink needles of rock candy.
"What a Fright..." another voice joined in as the thing that had once been Rarity came inside and politely closed the door behind her.
As the door clicked Twilight ran, stumbling in a panic in the dark. She had to make it upstairs, she had to save the children, if nopony else!
She wouldn't let them be devoured in their sleep. As she clambered up the stairs, the twisted monsters that had once been her friends came calmly, if jerkily, behind her.
As she made it to the landing, two small, grinning pumpkins awaited her. In their dusky light, Twilight could see it was already too late.
Two pairs of gumdrop eyes glistened at her from a single gelatinous form that writhed amid a mire of blood and tangled sheets.
In death, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had fused into a single grotesque entity. Perhaps it was better that they had gone in their sleep.
"Give us something sweet to bite," their twined mouths gurgled as one.
The actual Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both looked at each other, trying to imagine themselves fused together, and they said, "Blegh!"
As for Twilight, the alicorn shook her head while Pinkie and Rarity were both eating from Rainbow's bag of popcorn.
"Okay, seriously, why am I not in any of these stories?"
Pinkie looked over at the purple unicorn, and she said, "Don't worry, Starlight, at least you know you're in this one!"
"Which one?" asked Starlight, but Rainbow shushed the two of them before Pinkie could answer.
The drawbridge had been left down and the gates to the castle walls were open as usual. A sea of ponies teemed and undulated as far as the eye could see. Each grinning face was lit by a jack-o-lantern that sat glowing cheerfully at their was disturbing enough, but what was worse were the dead bodies broken and half eaten piled at the palace door. Standing atop the pile of bodies, mouth twisted into an expression of almost painful joy, the Candy Mare grinned hungrily down at Luna... The one pony who had ever managed to slow her down. As the mare's candy corn grin parted, the sound of her childlike voice echoed in unison from the army of candy ponies.
"Trick or Treat?" A mare's voice echoed through the square, and after the story they had just heard, no one could take it anymore.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Just like that, everypony ran for the hills, their Nightmare Night effectively spoiled by the tales told, though the last one in particular.
"It's the Candy Mare!" Beck heard the Crusaders screech as they fled. The stallion chuckled to himself as he turned to Casey, who looked on with wide eyes and agape mouth.
"I'd say this little shindig was a rousing success," he said smugly, and looked up to the upper portions of the stage. "Thanks for lending me your voice."
A figure flew down from where Beck was looking, looking quite cheerful for what has just occurred.
"You are very welcome, Beck. We found it to be quite fun," Luna said.
"Yes!" Beck said in celebration.
"Nevertheless… Twilight!" she called.
Beck's happiness quickly turned into confusion, and he said, "Wait, what?"
Said Princess of Friendship teleported in front of Beck, and the next thing both he and Casey knew, they were in a cell in Twilight's dungeon.
Luna soon teleported in as well, and the purple alicorn said, "Thank you for helping me get the last laugh, Princess Luna."
"Of course, Twilight," replied Celestia's royal sister.
"Et tu, Luna?" Beck said in mock-betrayal.
Luna could only smirk in response. "Happy Nightmare Night, boys," she said as she left.
Then, Twilight looked over at a sheepish Casey, who said, "Um… you're not really going to leave me in here with him all night, right?"
"I'll give you some time to figure that out, my special somepony," replied Twilight, and she winked at Casey before teleporting away.
Beck frowned in confusion, and asked, "What the heck did she mean by that?"
To his surprise, Casey (after realizing what she had meant) smiled at the middle-aged pony, and he said, "Happy Nightmare Night, Beck."
Whoosh!
Suddenly, he was gone in the blink of an eye, courtesy of his wristwatch, and Beck cried, "Alright, this is totally not fair! I learned my lesson already, so I don't deserve to be…"
Then, Beck instantly fell silent after seeing a red balloon slowly pass by, and his body turned pale after hearing the voice of a familar draconequs.
"So, my little pony… what exactly are you afraid of?"
################
A few hours later, everypony in the castle was now sound asleep… and completely unaware of a cloaked pony that was standing at the top of the stops.
"Yes… Happy Nightmare Night, indeed… until then, princess… hahahaha… hahahaha!"
As the mysterious pony continued to laugh, his body transformed into a swirl of black smoke, and he eventually flew off into the night.
Author's Note
Beck: Well, I hoped you all liked our little tribute to the creepiest stories this fandom had to offer. Seriously though, that last one is EASILY scarier than Cupcakes. Well, that's all from me. Happy Nightmare Night, everypony! Got anything to add CJ?
Me: Yeah… to anyone out in California (like me), keep on enjoying Halloween!
Also, on an unrelated note - whoo, let's go, Dodgers, we're gonna win the world series tomorrow!