Adjusting the pointy black hat, Twilight Sparkle gave herself one last look in the mirror. The costume did not really seem that "sexy" to her. The skirt was about as long as the one from her days at Crystal Prep, so it did not really show of more of her legs than she normally did. The top of it was a little more open, showing off a little bit of cleavage, but not very much. Twilight did not see what made it a "sexy witch."

"What do you think, Spike?" she asked, turning around in the mirror.

Lifting his head, Spike turned away from the toy he was chewing on to look at Twilight. The small dog shifted, looking the girl up and down. He then gave as much of a shrug as a dog could.

"You look fine, I guess."

"But is it cute?" Twilight asked, looking in the mirror again. "Sexy? Do you think Gilda will like it?"

"Don't know, don't know, and yes," Spike answered. "Come on Twi, you know she likes you. You don't have to worry about the costume."

"I suppose you're right," Twilight said, turning to look at herself in the mirror. Still, she could not help but feel a little nervous. That was natural, of course. She was stepping out of her comfort zone a little. While she was somewhat fit, she did not really think of her body as anything impressive. She was small: small breasts, small hips, small butt. While intellectually she was amazing, physically she was unimpressive. Normally, she was comfortable with that. Twilight had no issue with her legs or stomach being exposed, such as with shorts or swim suits, but she never really felt like she was showing off or flaunting anything when she did either.

That was what made this a little different for her. Twilight was trying to show off her modest body a little. It was what Rarity's magazines said she was supposed to do, try and be a little more exciting for her romantic interest. Halloween was the perfect time to try doing so. A night that was technically the bastardization of ancient European pagan rituals, a combination of celebrating the harvest season and of when the barriers between the living and the dead was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to pass into the world. Now, it was more about scaring people, kids getting candy, and -- in this case -- the opportunity for a person to be someone they usually are not. As such, she was doing something she normally did not, a person who wanted to be "sexy."

The beep of her cellular phone got Twilight's attention. Checking it, she found a message from Gilda, saying that she was waiting outside.

"That's her. I'll see you later, Spike."

"Bring me back a treat," he called after her.

"I'll see what I can do."

Making her way quickly down the stairs, she gave a quick good-bye to her parents before heading out the door.

There in the driveway sat The Monster. That was what Gilda called it at least. With good reason to since, according to her, it was something of a Frankenstein's Monster of an automobile. It had been built from parts Gilda collected from local junkyards and put together herself. Although, unlike Frankenstein's Monster, the parts all seemed to fit together pretty well. Twilight could not tell that the parts did not actually belong together normally. Although to be fair, Twilight did not exactly know much about automobiles.

Gilda sat behind the wheel, turning to face Twilight as the passenger door opened. Gilda was dressed in a skin-tight shiny black jumpsuit, with a domino mask on her face and black ears sticking out the top of her head. Her eyes narrowed behind her mask as she gave a predatory grin.

"Meow," she purred out.

Twilight stood there, staring at cat girl Gilda sitting behind the wheel. In the light of day, she could make out how the outfit clung to the buff girl. The shine of the outfit drew even more attention to every curve and bulge. Gilda did not look like a cute little kitty, but a fierce predator. A jungle cat. Twilight could almost picture Gilda slinking through the woods, moving with silent grace as she stalked unknowing prey.

"You getting in, Twi?"

The question caused Twilight to jump slightly, knocking her from her thoughts.

"Yes, right," Twilight said as she climbed into the car. "Sorry." She grabbed her seat belt. "You look... nice."

"Thanks," Gilda replied. "You look pretty cute yourself."

Twilight looked away, blushing slightly. Being complimented on her appearance was still something new to her. Most of her life, she had been praised for her intelligence. No one ever really called her "cute," "adorable," and definitely never "sexy." Instead it was "bright," "talented," or "brilliant," with the occasional "freakishly smart." Her parents some times called her lovely, but it was not really the same thing. Her parents were biased as she was their offspring. Especially since she looked just like her mother at Twilight's age, skin and hair colors aside.

"Thanks," she finally mumbled out.

"So, where's this carnival we're going to?" Gilda asked as she put the car in reverse.

With Twilight working as navigator, the two of them made their way out to Sweet Apple Acres where a Halloween carnival was being held. While not officially connected with Canterlot High, a lot of the students were there either to help or provide support, as well as spend some money in the process. There were booths that had games to play, as well as those that sold food and beverages. Multiple cut-outs had been set up so people could put their heads in and have pictures taken. One of the barns had even been cleaned out and used as a dance area, where Vinyl Scratch -- currently as DJ-MP3 (working stage name) -- was playing.

The biggest attraction -- both in size and popularity -- was The Haunted Maze. Bales of hay had been stacked up to about eight feet high, creating walls for the labyrinth. Screams and laughs could be heard from inside. At the entrance was a large sign with the name written across it in "dripping blood." Next to the entrance was a smaller sign that read:

"Shall we?" Twilight asked as they made their way to the entrance.

"Ladies first," Gilda said, motioning forward.

"Good luck," a scarecrow girl at the entrance said. "And beware the demon!"

The couple made their way into the maze, Twilight taking the lead. As they went, the found some dead ends, met other wanderers, and saw the various monsters like mummies, witches, and vampires. At one dead end, there was what looked like a massive wolf made out of sticks and logs, eyes glowing green and mouth opening to roar before closing again. Twilight just had to take a picture of it.

In a large area that was likely the center of the maze, a she-demon jumped out with a mighty roar. She stood as tall at Twilight Sparkle, with burnt red skin and black eyes. It had red and yellow hair that stuck straight up, and the tattered remains of a dress that matched. Razor sharp teeth glistened in its mouth as it bared them at the duo.

"Hey, Sunset," Twilight said as she held her phone up to the demon. "You look pretty good."

"Thanks," the demon said in a familiar scratchy voice as she straightened up, "but I'm not Sunset."

"Dash?" Gilda asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, Dash, I'm so sorry," Twilight said. "I thought--"

She was cut off by a wave of the hand.

"It's fine," Rainbow Dash replied. "Hey, it just shows how good a job we did with the make-up and costume." Straightening up more, she puffed her chest out as she put her hands on her hips. "Even someone who knows Sunset thinks I look like her. It's great."

"Speaking of," Twilight continued, "does she know about this?" She motioned with her hand toward the demon.

"Yeah. Sunset wasn't comfortable playing the role herself, but she had no problem with it." Rainbow shrugged. "Least that's what she said when we talked about it."

A scream and round of laughter suddenly filled the air.

"Sounds like more people are coming," Rainbow said. "Better get back in hiding. See ya later."

With that, Rainbow Dash, waved them off and went into hiding. Twilight and Gilda continued on, making their way to the other side of the path.

"You're pretty brave," Gilda said, moving closer to Twilight.

"What makes you say that?" Twilight asked, turning to look at the other girl.

"The way you've been acting since we got here." Gilda motioned at the maze around here. "We're in a 'haunted maze' and you've been barreling headfirst through it. Not one time did you stop and act scared. Just... fascinated. Like with that wood wolf thing."

"Well, none of it's real," Twilight said. "I mean it's all props, costumes, and special effects. We're not really in any sort of danger from any of it or anything."

"Yeah," Gilda agreed, "but you didn't even jump in surprise when 'the demon' jumped out at us."

"I was expecting it. Normally at places like this, they tend to use jump-scares to startle visitors." Twilight smiled. "I probably would have been disappointed if something didn't pop out at some point."

A small grunt escaped Gilda as she gave a slight nod of her head. Reaching out, Twilight took her hand and leaned against her.

"Besides," Twilight continued, "considering what I can do now, I have to be careful and keep calm. Wouldn't want to actually get scared and wind up accidentally blowing the whole maze apart."

"That would be kind of cool," Gilda said with a chuckle. "Bet some of the other people would like it too. Think it's a part of the show or something like that."

The two continued on through the maze.

"If you want," Twilight said, "I could pretend to be scared."

The suggestion made Gilda stop, turning to look at Twilight curiously.

"Why would I want that?"

"It's what's supposed to happen, isn't it? The smaller partner gets scared -- or pretends to get scared -- so that the larger, stronger partner can comfort them and make them feel safe?"

"Yeah," Gilda said as she let Twilight's hand go. "And I've had girls do that before. Even done it myself a time or two." She then wrapped her arm around Twilight's waist, hand resting on a hip as she pulled her closer. "But I like you better as yourself." Leaning in, Gilda kissed Twilight gently on the lips.

It was quick and small, just barely touching before pulling apart again.

"Come on," Gilda said with a smile, leading Twilight by her side through the maze.

As they turned a corner, a robotic looking fox popped out at them and let out a metallic shriek.

From outside the maze, the sound of a scream could be heard, followed by a boom of an explosion. There was a purple light as bales of hay went flying through air. Several people stared while others cried out.

Back inside the maze, Twilight Sparkle stood there with her eyes wide and one hand thrown out in front of her. Gilda was beside her, eyes wide as well. The two of them stared at the massive gap in the maze now in front of them, letting them see directly outside.

"Oops," Twilight said softly, a blush forming on her cheeks.

Gilda started laughing.