Nightmare Night had come at last.

The moon was full and at its peak in the night sky, the air was fresh with but a slight chill to it, and children, all wearing their costumes, had spilled forth upon the streets of canterlot, hungry for candy and scares only such a night as this could provide in plenty. Under disguises depicting monsters, ghosts, ghouls and goblins of all sort, the ponies prowled the city in droves, searching for the sugary prey their hungering teeth craved.

Persica and Peach Blossom had come into Canterlot just as the sun had set over the horizon. The filly had dressed as something many would actually find more harmless than fear-provoking; a peach. She made the bulgy, poofy cloth costume herself over the summer time, and she was quite excited about finally being able to wear it at its proper time. Even Persica had gone and dabbled a bit into the festive mood. She had a black witch's hat resting over her head and a black cape sitting about her shoulders.

As they neared their first destination, to pick up a certain individual, the two spotted a shape entering their sights. There, on the edge of the street corner and in front of a single house, stood a little vampire dressed in white makeup and a red-and-black cape. He had the appearance of a suit underneath his cowl, and his mane had been brushed back neatly.

"Hello my friends!" greeted the vampire, or as the foal Peach Blossom knew him as, Bumble Bee. "Tonight, we feast on the candy of the living! Ah, ah, ah!"

Peach Blossom attempted to hold in a snigger at how his comment ended in a cheesy laugh, and her half-suppressed giggling only grew louder as he used a hoof to raise his cape to his snout in a way they would do in the old stories and plays, as though thinking it would provoke only fear from all who beheld him.

"Nice costume!" Blossom complimented. "How'd you get your fangs to look so real, Bumble?"

"Just got 'em at a really good store," he spoke as he tapped a hoof against one; not telling her that they were actually his real fangs, only undisguised. "And sweet peach costume, Peach Blossom!"

"So your mother isn't coming with us?" Persica took the liberty to inquire, seeing him being the only one there.

"No. She needs to care for my sis," he replied, motioning his horned head in the direction of his house. "She told me to be back by nine."

"I wish I could see your little sister sometime," Peach Blossom said. "Little foals are always so cute when you try to play with them."

"Well, you know... she's young. We're just... very protective of her right now," Bumble sighed, using the same excuse his mother trained him to use. "Around the time when she's able to walk and speak is when she'll be alright to be around others."

"I understand completely," she sighed. "But... I think that's enough about family matters. Are you ready to get some candy!?" she then shouted, shooting one of her front hooves into the air in front of him.

"I am ready to get some candy!" he answered in kind with a smile full of vigor and glee for the night ahead, sending his own hoof to meet hers and clapping them together.

They ended up spending the first few minutes at that same block, reciting the holiday greeting of "Nightmare Night, what a fright Give us something sweet to bite!" one was to speak if they wanted yummy treats given to them, all as Persica watched over them with a surveilling eye. An hour swiftly passed by as the venture around the city went on in repetition, and Peach Blossom and Bumble ended up accumulating a great deal of candy in their individual sacks. But as time went on, the two foals were beginning to feel as though something was missing.

"Hey, Bumble," Peach Blossom began. "I know that some of the costumes we saw other ponies use were pretty creative and creepy and stuff, but is it me, or are there not as many ponies actively scaring others as last year?"

"Yeah, I noticed too," Bumble said, poking his nose into his bag to get a quick look at the acquired loot. "You'd think there'd be more on Nightmare Night, huh?"

Persica lowered her brow, eyeing them skeptically. "You know, I heard a rumor going around that Princess Luna herself is out and about right now, looking for little foals like you two to scare the fur off of."

"She is?" the two children both asked at the same time.

"I'm willing to bet so," she said, before giving a playfully wary glance to the two young ones. "So I'd watch the shadows if I were you... She is the Princess of the Night, after all. She could be lurking anywhere. In the shadows, in the sky above; anywhere..."

Peach Blossom turned to Bumble. "I'm not scared or anything, b-but if that is somehow true, how do you think she's going to scare everypony? Do you think she'll try to scare us?"

"I don't know," he said back. "How would she even do it?"

"I think she'd try to swoop down from above," Peach Blossom surmised.

"Or, maybe, she could be in the castle, plotting her plans," Bumble guessed, shifting his view to the shape of the castle in the center of Canterlot.

"Or maybe she's right behind you!" a new voice boomed like a clap of thunder from right behind them. Both the foals squealed in panic and hugged each other close in fright as the dark-furred shape of the Princess of the Night herself, Luna, pounced out from behind a large, decorated shrub on the street corner; her eyes aglow with blank light that had the potential to unnerve even the bravest and most stoic of souls. Their terrified screaming growing quieter after a few seconds and eventually evolving into a fit of laughter, all four of the ponies joined in on the sounds of startled delight. Finishing her stunt, Luna gave them a brief, flicking wave with her hoof and quickly took off to the air with a sweep of her great wings, searching for more young ponies to scare.

"Now that is a lot of candy." Habeas unleashed an impressed whistle at the sight of all the sweets sitting within Peach Blossom's bag. She had since shed the costume she wore for most of the evening so far, and was now going through the stash she had collected for herself in the living room of the house with her changeling friend. Most of the amassed loot took the shape of chocolate bars, colorful candy wrappers, and swirly-designed mints.

"It was awesome, Mr. Brittle. We, got to visit so many houses, and we saw some really cool costumes, and we even got scared by Princess Luna!" she exclaimed. "This was the best Nightmare Night ever! Now, to enjoy my spoils..."

"Remember Blossom; don't have too many sugary sweets before bed," Persica spoke to her daughter as she walked by with the peach costume in her hoof. "It's still a school night, you know."

"Yeah, I know..." she mumbled, her lips puckering in small annoyance with the fact. "It's so weird how they don't make the day after Nightmare Night a holiday so you can sleep in, when you're supposed to be out late getting treats."

"'Such is life'," Persica quoted. "I'll take care of your costume for you while you have a few pieces of your candy."

"Do you think I'll be able to use it again next year?"

The mare shrugged. "For all we know, you might become too big for it next year."

"Yeah, I might be," the filly agreed. "I should start thinking of what to make next!" As her daughter singled out a normal-looking chocolate bar to devour, Persica left the room, leaving Peach Blossom and the changeling alone for the time being.

Peeling back the red rapper and taking a bite from her chocolate bar, Peach Blossom gave Habeas an inquisitive expression. "Do changelings have holidays like us?" To this, Habeas pondered on this question for a few moments.

"An excellent question. Well, we have National Bow-Before-the-Queen Day, where all changelings go to Queen Chrysalis and pay their personal respects to her. And on Birthing Day, all the eggs placed in the hive's egg chamber hatch at the same time. There's... nothing else but that, actually."

"Huh. It doesn't sound very fun being a changeling," Peach Blossom mumbled before taking another bite of her sweet candy, another question coming to mind. "I don't think I ever asked before, but what's your queen like?"

Habeas didn't even need time to respond to a question like that. "Well, Chrysalis is tall and intimidating. She... has leadership skills, I suppose. Oh, and she can get quite mean when things don't go her way. A pony like you wouldn't ever, ever want to meet her," he said. "She always demands the largest share of love we collect in order to keep herself 'powerful enough to defend the hive' from any threats. I think I see why she never did like it when I said there was a chance at finding an alternative solution at finding love in a more peaceful way."

Peach Blossom finished her treat and let something she really wanted to speak about come to mind. "Habeas, another quick question that's a little off-topic, and I swear it's nothing too major, but have you ever... fallen in love before?"

Like a light being turned on in a dark room, his thoughts switched to the other day not too long ago, when this same, devil-minded filly caught him unawares with a similar question about her mother. This new query though sounded much less open and penetrating, and so, after a few seconds had passed, he decided to reply. "No. Sadly, I have not," he said to her with a shake of his chip-horned head, looking to the piece of cloth wrapped around his bad leg. "When I was still an ignorant drone, I stole love from other creatures without even thinking to return it, and I never really gained too dense of an affection toward any of my fellow changelings. Ever since I changed my ways and left the hive, I've been peacefully accumulating love by ingesting the food you ponies make, but I've almost never really had time to form connections to anypony with how quick on my hooves I've been. Well... until now, that is."

He waved his bad hoof and the sling that contained it in a brief motion. The limb appeared to not be as sluggish and stiffened as it was when it was first broken, as Peach Blossom could plainly see.

"Your leg looks like it's almost healed," Blossom said, still watching as he moved it with near-ease.

Habeas too looked to the sling, stretching and rotating his limb at its joints as the sound of hoofsteps heeded Persica's return into the room. "Yes, I... suppose it is nearly there."

"Talking about secrets and rumors, are we?" the mare asked from several feet away, noticing the conversation between her daughter and the changeling.

"No, just talking about how close I am to being able to use all four of my legs at once again," Habeas replied. "We both can see that my leg's almost fully mended, but my wings are..."

"Still like shredded paper," Persica finished for him in a sigh. "Just continue to remember; the moment you're strong enough to be on your own, you're out of here. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"I still haven't forgotten," he said back. He would have been content with remaining quiet after that, when he thought of something that he noticed earlier in the day, while the other two were preparing for Nightmare Night. "Before I forget, have you guys seen the garden? The veggies should be ready to get harvested in less than a week," he spoke to the two in quite an excited tone. "Everything looks healthy and almost ready for picking."

"Just a week? Oh, boy!" cheered Peach Blossom, clapping her hooves with glee. "I can't wait to see how they look!"

"And it couldn't come at a better time," Persica grinned. "From what I know, the first signs of frost'll be setting in less than two from now."

"It's most certainly... great news," Habeas said, yawning. "Well, I'm beat. I think I'll head off to bed now. Goodnight Persica. Goodnight to you, Peach Blossom. May you both have the sweetest of dreams," Getting up and stretching his limbs, the changeling started to make his way to the door, as to trot over to the barn outside, when Peach Blossom voiced her opinion.

"Mom, can Mr. Brittle please, please, please sleep inside the house tonight?" she pleaded to her mother. "I know that you know he won't cause and trouble."

Persica groaned at her daughter's reluctance to accept the set rules made for her friend. "No, Blossom. As I've said many times before, Mr. Brittle is to sleep in the barn."

Habeas took his turn to speak up. "Oh, but sweet, merciful Miss Persica, could you at least think about what would happen if you were to use your authoritative power to allow the other option to come to light?" he inquired in an overly-polite tone, looking to the mare with a respecting sheen in his teal, compound eyes as he passed close to her. "Don't you think I've at least deserved to rest a single night inside this house for working for your kind self?"

Persica couldn't help but genuinely smile at the changeling's flattery, and murmured a quick chuckle as she gave him her reply; looking into those deep eyes of his all the while.

"No."