Deep in the Everfree Forest stands the ruined castle of the two royal pony sisters, long forgotten by the inhabitants of Equestria. The once pristine palace that served as a home for the rulers of the country had lost its former glory, as do many things through the wear and tear of time. Its stones were cracked and dusty, with shattered windows and overgrown vegetation littering the structure. The ancient castle barely seemed able to stay upright on its old foundation.

However, though its former glory had gone, seven friends were located inside, busying themselves with the task of restoring the magnificent castle to the way it had looked 1000 years ago, with a bit of variation of course.

"Hoo we! Nothin' like a good day of work ta finish a project like this!" Applejack breathed, satisfied as she took a seat on a pillow, "Ah swear, I'm sweatin' more than a greased pig in a wrestlin' competition."

Rarity, who happened to be sitting nearby, shuffled away slightly from the cowgirl in mild disgust, "Thank you for that analogy, Applejack."

The two of them looked back at the rest of their friends as they took their seats on the other pillows in the room. They were currently in the hidden room of the royal library, the one that Twilight had stumbled upon after the whole Tree of Harmony incident. And luckily, since it had been sealed off for centuries, the hidden structure was one of the cleaner rooms of the castle. So, it had become their lounge for whenever they needed a break from restoring the castle.

Twilight smiled with a satisfied grin, though a thin shimmer of sweat was visible on her furry forehead, "Well, girls, I think today was a very successful day for the castle restoration."

Pinkie Pie nodded hyperactively, as if the hours of work beforehand hadn't drained her a bit. But that wasn't much of a surprise. Even though she had worked as hard as the others, she still brimmed to overflowing with energy. The pink earth pony beamed at Twilight, "I know, right? Sooner or later, this whole place is gonna be up and running! And then, after that, I can throw a huge 'Re-opening-the-castle-party-because-we-fixed-it-up' party! There'll be cake, balloons, and-" She suddenly gasped, "We can invite the princesses! It'll be just like coming back home for them!"

Fluttershy smiled, "Oh, I hope Princess Celestia and Princess Luna like it. They haven't been here since... Um... You know..."

Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof reassuringly on the shy pony's back, though it might have been too hard judging by the squeak Fluttershy emitted. But of course, Rainbow didn't notice, "Oh, lighten up. I'm sure they'll love it! After all, we did all of this work for it. They won't even recognize the place once we finish."

"Well, more or less." Twilight replied, glancing to the side, "What do you think, Spike?"

But her dragon companion had already curled up on his own pillow, proceeding to fall asleep. So his response only came as a few snores.

Twilight giggled at the sight before glancing out of the room, and into the library outside. From where she sat, she could see a window, and through it, the moon rose higher into the sky in the dark of the night. It was getting pretty late, far later than they would have usually left for Ponyville after working here. And they of all ponies knew first handedly how dangerous it was to travel through the Everfree Forest at night.

But luckily for them, they weren't planning on returning to town tonight. In the room they currently sat in, six saddle bags sat along the wall, filled with everything they needed for the night. These were items like pillows, blankets, mane brushes, silk pajamas in Rarity's case, and in Twilight's, books.

Yeah, you probably guessed it right:

Twilight smiled at her friends, "I think Spike has the right idea. Who's ready for a slumber party?"

The five mares in front of her cheered in excitement.

Rainbowdash did a hoof pump, "Aw yeah, this is gonna be awesome! Spending the night in the creepy castle!"

Applejack gave a knowing look towards Rarity, "It's definitely gonna be a mite different than stayin' at Twi's house."

"I'm just glad we convinced her to leave her guide from last time at home." Rarity whispered back.

"Oh, but Rarity, are you sure you'll be alright sleeping here?" Fluttershy asked, "I mean, you usually like staying at home where it's comfortable, but... Um... Here it's um..."

"Oh, don't you worry, darling. I'll be perfectly fine here. After all, this is a castle we are staying in." Rarity replied, "Granted it's very ancient, but it is still a castle nonetheless."

Twilight picked up her saddlebag from the wall of the room and began rummaging through its contents, "We should start getting everything set up for the night. And while we do that," She pulled out a book from her bag, "I'll read something from this."

In her hooves, she held a black, paperback book, with its title on the front in white letters: Creepy Spooks.

Fluttershy, though she was pulling bedding out of her bag, was the first to read the title, her eyes widening as she saw it, "C-c-cree-eepy Spoo-ooks? Does that mean it'll be a s-scary story?"

Twilight nodded as she flipped the book open, "Yes, but it's scary stories, plural. This book is actually a compilation of all kinds of spooky tales."

Fluttershy whimpered and buried her face into a pillow, making the magenta alicorn giggle in amusement, "Don't worry, Fluttershy. I've already read through most of these stories, so I'll only read the few that aren't quite as scary. There's no need to worry."

The shy pegasus glanced up slightly, her speech muffled a bit by the cushion covering her mouth. "O-oh, that'd be nice." But she squeaked as the thought of hearing a scary story came to her mind yet again.

The others, however, were more enthusiastic about the idea, and continued getting ready for bed as Twilight searched for a suitable story that wouldn't scare Fluttershy quite as badly.

But as she unpacked her things, Rarity caught glimpse of something on the book Twilight held. A small sticker, indicating that the book was property of the Golden Oaks Library.

"Twilight, darling, is that book from the library? You told me you'd never bring a single shred of paper into a place like the Everfree Forest if it belonged to the library."

"Oh, no. Sorry, Rarity, but this book actually belongs to me." Twilight explained, "You see, this book is fairly new, and I had ordered a copy of it for the library. But when it came in the mail, I had been sent two copies by mistake. The publishers wouldn't accept returns, so I ended up keeping both, one for the library, and one for my own personal use. However, both are marked as library property because Spike didn't realize we had two of the same book.

She raised a hoof to her chin as a thought came, "Come to think of it, the other copy got checked out from the library just yesterday."

"By whom?" Rarity inquired.

"Scootaloo, actually."

A smirk came to Rainbow's face at the sound of the filly's name, "Ah, yeah. That's definitely Scoots for ya. That awesome little daredevil is *always* thrill-seeking, even when she's just reading a book."

Applejack perked up a bit as she laid down a blanket for a makeshift bed, "Wait, last time she borrowed a book from Twilight, didn't Scootaloo and the other crusaders make a love potion ta make mah brother and Ms. Cheerilee fall fer each other?"

Rainbow scratched a hoof behind her neck, chuckling sheepishly, "Oh, right. I remember that." The cyan pegasus shrugged nonchalantly as all sheepishness receded, "But hey, Scoots borrowed a book full of scary stories. I doubt she's gonna get herself into any trouble by reading it. It's not like she'll use it to raise the dead and cause a zombie apocalypse, so don't worry about it."

Pinkie hopped up and down on her 'bed' made of blankets and pillows, dressed in a pair of crazy blue pajamas designed with balloons and steamers, "Ooh, ooh, ooh, Twilight! You should read a scary story now. I'm so excited! I hope it's so scary that I'll just curl up into a ballandscreamoutofpurehorrorandthenI'llrollaroundlikeI'mhavingapanicattackwhenI'mactuallynotbut-"

As the party pony's rambling quickly descended into incomprehensible jabber, Twilight simply smiled as she stopped flipping through the book, "Okay, Pinkie. I've got a good one right here. It's called, 'The Midnight Game'."

Pinkie Pie settled down, and she and the others settled down on their covers to listen to the story. With everypony ready, Twilight took a deep breath and began,

"The Midnight Game is an old pagan ritual used mainly as punishment for those who have broken the laws of a pagan religion.

"While it is mainly used as a scare tactic to not disobey the gods, there is still a very real chance of death to those who play the Midnight Game. There's an even higher chance of permanent mental scarring. It is highly recommended that you DO NOT play the Midnight Game.

"However, for those few thrill seekers searching for a rush or those delving into obscure occult rituals, these are the simple instructions on how to play. Do so at your own risk."

Twilight frowned in confusion, "Instructions? I thought this book only had scary stories, not rules to a dangerous game." She glanced up at her friends to see that they too were feeling the same way, with unsure looks plastered to their faces.

"You an' me both." AJ replied, "I swear, mah fur is already standing up on end from what you've read."

"Death? Permanent mental scarring?" Rarity's eyes were wide in worry, "This 'game' sounds more like, ... Well, a death game, to put it simply."

"Um, y-yeah." Rainbow added nervously, "I mean, um, keep reading. How is this game even dangerous anyways?" Though everyone present knew the last question was last ditch effort for Rainbow to keep her cool, they all had the same thought on their minds. What could possibly make somepony die or, if not that, lose their mind?

Twilight continued reading, "Okay, here's the instructions."

(Of course, off to the side, no one noticed as Fluttershy whimpered, "I-I th-thought you said you had read these stories...")

Twilight read along, "Prerequisites: It must be exactly 12:00AM when you begin performing the ritual, otherwise it will not work. The materials required include a candle, a wooden door, at least one drop of your own blood, a piece of paper, matches or a lighter, and salt. If you are playing with multiple people, they will all need their own of the aforementioned materials and will have to perform the steps below separately.

"First, write your full name on a piece of paper and put at least one drop of blood on the same paper. Allow it to soak in."

Suppressing a shudder at the mention of using her own blood, Twilight continued, "Next, turn off all the lights in the house. Go to your door and place the paper with your name in front of it. Take the candle and light it. Afterward, place the candle on top of the paper with your name.

"Knock on your own door 22 times (the hour MUST be 12:00AM upon the final knock), then open the door, blow out the candle, and close the door. You have just allowed the "Midnight Stallion" into your home."

Fluttershy squeaked in fright, burying her face into her mane, "Th-th-The M-Midnight Stallion? Is h-he like th-the sh-shadow pony?"

"Ah sure hope not, Sugarcube." AJ responded, her face showing a bit more uneasiness than before.

Twilight kept reading, "Upon letting the Midnight Stallion into your home, immediately relight your candle.

"This is where the game begins. You must now lurk around your completely dark house with the lit candle. Your goal is to avoid the Midnight Stallion at all costs until exactly 3:33AM."

"But why 3:33 AM?" Pinkie asked. Much to the dismay of her friends, the pink pony was now shaking even harder than Fluttershy was.

The logical portion of Twilight's brain instantly kicked in at the question, "Hm... Well, those three hours are exactly at the middle of the night. Usually dusk and dawn are separated by 9 to 10 hours, with 12:00 to 3:33 always in the middle. So, if the Midnight Stallion appears during the exact middle of the night, I'd assume it doesn't want to take chances and stay out in the open by the time dawn comes. With that theory, the Midnight Stallion probably doesn't like sunlight very much, or maybe it even has a weakness to sunlight. That could explain why it's called the Midnight Stallion..."

Twilight's train of thought petered out as she realized her friends were staring at her with blank looks. Embarrassed by her rambling, the alicorn blushed slightly and turned her focus back to the book,

"Should your candle ever go out, it is because the Midnight Stallion is near you. You must relight your candle within the next ten seconds. If you are unsuccessful in relighting the candle, you must immediately surround yourself with a circle of salt.

"If you are unsuccessful in both of these, the Midnight Stallion will induce a hallucination of your greatest fear until 3:33AM. If you are successful in relighting the candle, you may proceed. If you are successful in creating the circle of salt, you must remain within the circle until 3:33AM."

Twilight paused after reaching the end of the paragraph, this time unable to suppress a shudder, quietly whispering to herself, "A hallucination of your greatest fear? It almost sounds like that trap door King Sombra made to hide the Crystal Heart. Even though that hallucination only lasted for a minute, it was still awful. Yet the Midnight Stallion can do that same thing until 3:33?" She shook her head, not wanting to ponder on it.

"What was that, Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, nothing." Twilight quickly replied, a bit jumpy from the sudden question. Without another word, she turned back to reading the rules.

"You must continue until 3:33AM without being attacked by the Midnight Stallion or being trapped within the circle of salt to win the Midnight Game. The Midnight Stallion will leave at 3:33AM and you will be safe to proceed with your morning.

"While in the game, staying in one spot the entire game will only result in the Midnight Stallion finding you. It is highly advised you continue moving throughout the game."

Rainbowdash grimaced slightly, "Man, this game is complicated. Even if I wanted to play it, I'd still think it was hard."

Under normal circumstances, Applejack would've called RD a chicken for being scared. But after a small moment of reconsideration, AJ decided it'd be best if she didn't do anything that would have egged the egotistical pegasus on, lest Rainbow saw it as a challenge and participated in the Midnight Game. Instead, the work pony nodded in agreement, "Who in their right mind would want ta play a game like this? It sounds like a bad 'nough idea anyway."

Twilight responded, "Wait, there are still more rules in here."

Rainbow groaned, "More?"

Twilight read off the final rules in quick succession, "DO NOT turn on any lights during the Midnight Game.

"DO NOT use a flashlight during the Midnight Game.

"DO NOT go to sleep during the Midnight Game.

"DO NOT use another pony's blood on your name.

"DO NOT use a lighter or magic to substitute for a candle. It will not work.

"DEFINITELY DO NOT attempt to provoke the Midnight Stallion in ANY WAY.

"That is all. Have fun."

Silence passed over the six friends, save for Spike's muffled snoring, as they all paused after hearing that last line. How could anyone write up instructions to something this terrifying, and end the rules with "have fun"? A sadistic pony, no less.

Fluttershy whimpered softly, breaking the silence, "Um... L-let's never play that game."

The other five mares glanced at each other in silence before nodding all at once, "Agreed."

Twilight shook her head, chuckling a bit nervously, "Come on, look at us. We're all getting worked up because of some game that probably isn't even real."

"He he he, yeah..." Rainbow joined in, "I knew the Midnight Game wasn't real. I was just uh, helping make it seem scarier."

"Wow! You sure had me fooled." Pinkie chimed, suddenly returning to her normal behavior (If her usual behavior could even be considered normal, that is). The pink pony giggled, "Rainbow really made it seem like she was scared too, and that made me scared even more than before! That's really terrifying stuff!"

Rarity, though she wanted to call out on Rainbow's antics teasingly, decided to let Pinkie have her fun, "That's... Nice, darling." Glancing back to Twilight, "But I think I might know why those instructions are in that book, Twilight."

"Oh, really?"

"It seems to me that the instructions to the Midnight Game is a scary story itself. After all, it did manage to give us all a fright."

Twilight paused and pondered the thought before giggling in realization, "I guess you're right." She turned her attention back to the Creepy Spooks book, "With that story finished, who wants to read another one?"

All five voices chorused in agreement, of course one of them spoke quieter than the rest, that one being Fluttershy.

"So, what's this next story called, Twi?" AJ asked.

Twilight grinned mischievously, "Oh, this one is sure to scare the horseshoes off your hooves. It's called, 'Abandoned by Hasbro'."

As the group of friends continued their slumber party in peace, a certain trio of friends in Ponyville had their own plans for the night, which included the Golden Oaks Library's copy of Creepy Spooks...