On the surface, nothing appeared to be wrong.
It was as cool and calm a day as any other in the fall, but something about it managed to unnerve Twilight Sparkle. She tried to brush off the feeling; she was a rational pony, after all, and her common sense told her there was nothing at all to worry about, and she shouldn't pay attention to silly little feelings like that. It wasn't working.
Pinkie Pie wasn't helping matters. She was throwing a party that night, which was not unusual, but it was a different kind of party. Twilight had caught a glimpse at some of the supplies, decorations, props, probably some things that were meant to be surprises, and it looked kind of spooky. Creepy, even.
When asked about the strange choice of decorations, Pinkie's first reaction was to giggle. "Don't you know, silly? It's the Darkest Night!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this response. "Darkest Night?" she asked.
"I first noticed it when I was real little. Every year, there's one night where the sky is darker than every other night, and that's tonight," she said.
She looked to the others for confirmation on this point. Rainbow Dash shrugged, Rarity looked as uncertain as Twilight, and Applejack just cocked her head to one side and asked, "Have you been eatin' the funny muffins again?"
"Just trust me on this one, girls," Pinkie Pie said. "We're gonna celebrate the darkest night of the year with the scaaariest party of the year!"
If the prospect of the "scariest party of the year" wasn't doing wonders for the apprehension Twilight was already experiencing, then the idea that all her life one night of the year had been darker than every other night and she, casual astronomer that she was, had simply never noticed was almost enough to send her over the edge. Still, she tried to relax. After all, a party was a party. Maybe a real scare or two would drive out all those silly worries. It couldn't hurt to ask, though. "Spike, I need you to take a letter," she said. The baby dragon stood at attention, quill and scroll ready, and Twilight cleared her throat.
"Dear Princess Luna," she began.
Spike hesitated at this. "Luna?" he asked.
"It'll make sense in a moment." When Spike shrugged and wrote the salutation, she continued. "I have heard a rumor that this night is going to be the darkest night of the year. Can you confirm this? And if so, why is it? I have had a sense of foreboding lately and I think an answer would put my mind at ease. Signed, a concerned citizen, Twilight Sparkle."
"One sec," Spike said, darting over to the library's reference section to look up the correct spelling of "foreboding".
With the letter thus completed, he exhaled a plume of green flame, which transported the letter to its destination. "Thanks, Spike," Twilight said. "Now, I've got things to do today before Pinkie's party. Are you coming?"
Spike, of course, rarely failed to accompany Twilight into town. He was an excellent assistant, and, if the fact that Twilight raised him from an egg meant she counted as his mother, he was a good son as well. And this time, he recalled, Twilight had been asked to assist Rarity with an errand, an opportunity he didn't want to pass up. So with a simple "Sure thing", he hopped onto Twilight's back and they were off.
In town, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Twilight was beginning to feel a little more at ease, almost able to dismiss her earlier worries.
So what happened next was somewhat unfortunate.
Twilight's last stop before she got to Rarity's was at Books & Timepieces. "Welcome!" the earth pony behind the counter called jovially as she entered. She paused for a moment, feeling a vague sense of deja vu, before addressing him.
"Hello," Twilight said. "I'm looking for the new astronomy book by..."
The shopkeeper held up a hoof, and she fell silent. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "but we don't have any books at all right now."
"What?" Twilight twitched slightly. "How can you not have ANY books? What kind of a bookstore doesn't have any books? I mean, the store is called Books & Timepieces! You only sell two things!"
"And right now, we're out of books. We're getting another shipment tomorrow, so whatever you're looking for will be in then."
Twilight sighed. "Fine. I also need a new alarm clock. SOMEONE keeps smashing them to make them stop ringing," she said with a quick look at Spike, who grinned sheepishly in response.
"Oh," said the shopkeeper, "would you like us to dragonproof that? The process takes about a day."
Thinking about it, Twilight decided that she could do without an alarm clock for a day, and since she was going to be here tomorrow anyway, it was worth the extra time. "That would be great, thank you," she said, producing the payment for one dragonproofed alarm clock. "See you tomorrow!"
Having completed that business, Twilight left the shop. At that instant, she heard a cracking noise, and then some yelling. By the time she had located the source, it was too late to react. A unicorn fell from a second-story balcony, landing on his back. Twilight looked up and saw that the railing had broken suddenly, and the unicorn's family was staring in shock. Several closer ponies rushed to help as he stood up and tried to shake it off. "I'm fine," he declared, "just a little..."
He didn't quite finish that statement, as he wavered and nearly collapsed. "Come on," said somepony, "we'll get you to a doctor." He was quickly carried off, dazed but conscious, as the rest of the family made it down to the street and followed. As Twilight watched, the fear from earlier came back to her. She had to make sure everything was okay. She decided to follow the injured unicorn as well.
"Twilight? Is that you?" Rarity called as she heard her door swing open.
"Sorry we're late, Rarity," Twilight responded. "There was an accident on the way, somepony got hurt, but he's okay now. They say he'll have trouble walking around for a few days, though."
"That sounds dreadful," Rarity said. "Come and sit for a while, try to take your mind off it."
Twilight complied, and as she entered the back room, she noticed something was different. Rarity was working at her sewing machine, but the opposite wall was now dominated by a large machine Twilight didn't recognize. A strip of cloth hung out of a slot on the side. Though obviously a new fixture, it was dented in several places, and every few minutes Twilight saw a small flash from the slot.
"Uh, Rarity? What's that?" Spike asked.
"Oh, I purchased a new machine to produce certain patterns more quickly, but I'm afraid it was damaged in transit. I tried to use it anyway, but it's simply not functioning properly. I'm going to have to see if I can return it for repairs first thing in the morning."
As soon as she'd finished saying that, the machine sparked, causing Twilight to jump. It took several seconds to realize that a chest next to it had caught fire. "Rarity!" Twilight yelled.
"No need to shout, darling, I'm right here," Rarity said, not taking her eyes off her work.
"Yes, but..."
"It's impolite to shout. Please, speak calmly and quietly, I'm almost finished and I don't want to ruin this now."
By this point, the chest was almost completely engulfed.
"Rarity, your room is on fire!"
"Yes well that's WHAT!"
Rarity ran out of the room and came back a few seconds later with a fire extinguisher, putting out the fire before it could spread any further. Unfortunately, it was a little too late to save the chest.
"Oh dear..." Rarity moaned as she sorted through the damaged contents.
"What was in the box?" Twilight asked.
"Some old... sentimental belongings," Rarity said. "It will be alright, but if you don't mind, I think I need a few minutes alone. Why don't you be off now?" she said. Twilight hesitated.
"If you're sure you're going to be alright..." she said, starting out the door. Spike hopped off her back, hurried over to Rarity, and patted her on the back, looking worried.
Rarity looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, Spike," she said. "Don't worry, I'll be there for the party tonight. I just need to compose myself now."
Outside, a voice called out to the two, "Well, whaddya know? Ah was jus' thinkin' ah should pay Rarity a visit mahself." Twilight turned to see Applejack trot up to them.
"Now's not a good time, AJ," Twilight said. "Rarity just lost some things in a fire."
"Gosh, hope she's alright."
"She'll be fine, but she doesn't want visitors right now."
Applejack nodded. "That's good. Well, howsabout we hang out fer tha day instead? Ah'm actually here lookin' ta share mah lunch with somepony while Big Mac minds the cart. An' once we close, we can head to Pinkie's party together."
Twilight thought carefully about that one. "Well, it's not that I don't want to, but... it seems like everything's going wrong today, and I wouldn't want to cause any problems."
At this, Applejack blinked. "Wait," she said. "Are you sayin' you, Little Miss Rationality-Pants, believe in jinxes?"
"Pants?... I know it sounds a little silly, but..."
"A LITTLE silly? C'mon, girl, yer comin' with me like it or not!" Twilight resisted slightly, but in the end she followed Applejack. And, to her relief, nothing else happened for the rest of the day. She had been right, after all; the earlier events weren't connected, it was all just silly superstition. And if she didn't give it another thought, this night would be just like any other night of the year.
As they were closing up Applejack's cart in the marketplace for Big Macintosh to haul back to Sweet Apple Acres, Spike suddenly hopped to his feet and, after a moment's buildup, belched green flame. Out of the flame, a letter appeared. Twilight opened it and read slowly.
"No, it wouldn't."
"C'mon, Twi, I'm sure Luna was just making a little joke," Spike said as they walked toward Sugarcube Corner. Twilight laughed nervously at the thought, still visibly shaken.
When they arrived at the party, they found getting in to be difficult. A small crowd had gathered at the door, unmoving. Applejack muscled her way through the crowd, leaving a little room for Twilight to follow behind her until they could both see the problem. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane was standing in the doorway, completely rigid.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack called out. "What in tarnation are ya doin' just standin' there?"
Slowly, Fluttershy looked back. "Oh, um, well, you see, I came for Pinkie's party, but I heard it was going to be, um... scary," she explained. Before she could continue, Pinkie Pie suddenly popped out of the crowd, causing her to jump.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy!" Pinkie said, placing one hoof across her friend's back. "I know you don't like scary things, and I didn't want you to feel left out, because after all it's a party and all your friends are here and it just wouldn't be any good if you couldn't enjoy it so I kept the surprises to certain places, and if you'll come with me I can show you where not to go, so you can enjoy the party and not have to worry about anything at all! I'll join you too since I mean I set it all up so it's not gonna scare me when I already know where everything is, even if it could there wouldn't be a lot of point."
There was a moment of silence. "...what?" Fluttershy asked at length.
Pinkie sighed as she began to drag Fluttershy inside. "Just come with me." Applejack and Twilight followed them in as the crowd began to move again.
The party was going well. Rainbow Dash had crashed to the ground, twitching a little, after the fourth set of fake bats dropped down from the ceiling right in her face, but chuckled and signaled to everyone that she was okay. Applejack was taking in Pinkie's "scary party games" (Pin the Tail on the Zombie Pony was attracting some attention), and Spike had passed out in the middle of a pile of confections decorated to look like predators from the Everfree Forest. Rarity was in the safe zone, talking to Pinkie Pie.
"...I'm still not quite sure I see the appeal," Twilight heard her say. "Ponies go to parties to relax and have fun, not to be scared silly, don't th... what is so funny?"
Pinkie, who had been giggling slightly while Rarity was talking, placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, it's just that you say that every year. See, everypony here came expecting a scare or two. And when you want to be scared, it's really fun! Get it?"
Rarity looked confused. "Wait, what do you mean every year?"
"Well, you do..."
Twilight wandered over, glancing at the clock nervously. This party had gone on way later than she expected, and even though she could see nothing bad was happening, her misgivings were growing worse and worse. "Hey, Pinkie Pie, I think I've gotta leave now... you know, it's late, and Spike..."
"Aw, but you can't leave now, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's nearly midnight, and that means it's almost time for the spooky dance!"
"Sp... spooky dance?" Twilight and Fluttershy asked, almost in unison.
"Oh, relax, it's not even scary!" Pinkie reassured them. "Just watch."
Slowly, the minutes ticked down. In the last few seconds, Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. As soon as she had done so, there was a flash of light and a whistling noise. After a moment, she opened her eyes, and couldn't believe what she saw.
All around the room, there now stood pale, translucent ponies, smiling and laughing just like the party guests had been. Slowly, Twilight realized that everyone else was staring in wide-eyed disbelief. A pale stallion walked up to Rarity and bowed. Rarity looked even more shocked for a moment, then laughed lightly and stepped toward him. Then, the two began to dance.
Once they had begun, more ghostly figures stepped toward the ponies in the room, and the process repeated itself. Applejack shivered as the shapes of a few young fillies, no older than her sister, passed her, their movements playful and youthful. They seemed so happy, even Fluttershy couldn't be afraid of them, and joined them for a dance.
Twilight found herself approached by the form of an elderly pegasus who looked at her the way her own grandfather might have. For a moment, she froze entirely. "It's not possible... they can't be real," she said. But as the pegasus bowed, she found herself joining him, possible or not.
The night went on, and Twilight began to forget about everything that had occupied her up until now. The nameless fears, the letter from Luna, even the time itself were all completely gone from her mind.
It wasn't until she woke up in her own bed the next morning that she realized the party had ended.