Sunset snuck carefully into the office, the box tucked under one arm. She knew she needed to act quickly, get in and out before the administrators came back from dismissal detail and caught her. The redhead didn’t want anyone to know what she was about to do. She padded close to the desk, stepping around it and moving the chair so she could position everything just right. It had to be arranged perfectly—she would settle for nothing less.

A few minutes later, she stepped back to observe her handiwork, feeling extremely proud that she’d pulled it off. Now the only thing left to do was to sneak ou—

“Miss Shimmer. What do you think you are doing, skulking around in my office?”

Sunset snapped bolt upright blowing air out her nostrils in a loud sound of surprise, heart trying to hammer its way out of her chest. “Vice-Principal Luna!” she stammered. “I…I was just…you see…”

The school’s disciplinarian gave her a hard stare. “…Miss Shimmer. I was not born this morning, and I am not stupid. What are you doing, skulking around my office when no one is around? More than that, how did you get into my office when I locked the door behind me on my way out?”

“…I…” Sunset’s voice cracked a little. “…Miss Raven…let me in! I swear, I didn’t break in! I wasn’t doing anything bad!” She was starting to tremble in fear.

“Then…why are you in my office?”

Swallowing, the former unicorn slid to the side, so that the Vice-Principal could see her desk. A spot amidst her paperwork had been cleared so a plate could be set down, something in dark tinted plastic wrap on it. “…You…you’ve tried to help me…I wanted to…” Suddenly, she felt foolish and stupid, that her idea was a dumb one and that it would probably offend the woman instead of flatter her.

“You wanted to what?” Luna’s tone softened, and she stepped closer to her desk to study what Sunset had spent so much time carefully placing. Her eyes widened at the selection of holiday cookies, arrayed on plastic wrap on top of a plate that had been painted with an alien moon, the dark, sooty image of a horse’s head marring one side of a silvery white surface.

Sunset heard footsteps coming to the door as she found herself tripping over her words. “…I was going to lock it again on my way out, I promise! I just…after we talked…I’ve been thinking about…stuff…and with the human version of the holiday today…I saw these in the bakery and it was just like when I was a foal…” She sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “…and it’s probably stupid, but Applejack said I should be true to myself and what I really want and feel…and I…wanted to do something…like I used to do back home…even if it was to pretend for a little bit. I’m sorry!”

Luna watched her for a minute. “…Breathe, Miss Shimmer…and perhaps explain to me what…this pertains to?” Her eyes drifted down to the array of cookies shaped like bat-winged ponies. “You said something from your home? I was not expecting a world of ponies to have Halloween, given its origins.”

Sunset blinked back more tears. “…It’s not the same….We call it Nightmare Night, and according to legend, when Nightmare Moon was banished to the Moon… not all of her went…her shadow remained, and it creeps across the land, hungry for souls. On Nightmare Night, all foals dress as other things to fool the shadow, and collect sweets to leave as an offering.” She rubbed her eyes. “…Most foals collect candy to leave some behind, but…when I was a foal, Princess Celestia and I would…well, she told me she thought that Nightmare Moon might be tired of candy, and that she thought she’d like cookies better.”

Caught up in retelling the story of the holiday and her own past, she barely noticed the Principal join her sister, studying the cookies on the plate. “…I realized later, when...when I was snooping through some of the older texts in the archives…that Nightmare Moon, the Mare in the Moon…was Princess Celestia's sister…” Her eyes went to the plate. “…I saw the cookies in the bakery this morning, and I remembered baking with the Princess when I was little…so I bought some, and I’ve been thinking about Nightmare Night today…and I know it's not Equestria, but…I thought…if the cookies we left for Nightmare Moon were flavors that Princess Luna liked…then…”

“….that they might be flavors I would like?” the administrator finished for her. She looked down at the cookies again. “…you were not wrong. I do enjoy cookies, and you seem to have presented me with a number of my preferred flavors.” Her brows furrowed. “…but why the secrecy?”

Sunset bit her lip, feeling even more ridiculous about the truth now. “…Promise you won’t laugh at me?” she asked in a very small voice.

The sisters glanced at each other, before Luna answered in the same tone she’d used several days prior. “…Neither of us will laugh at you, Sunset. It is very apparent that while the holiday is a fun and entertaining but otherwise frivolous past time for most in our world—even if it is a particular favorite of mine—its analog in yours had a much more personal meaning for you. Laughing at that would be extremely inappropriate.”

The former unicorn felt her ears burn in embarrassment. “…We always snuck out in secret to leave our offering. It was the one night other than the Summer Sun Celebration where the Princess would let me stay up so late, because she insisted that it was only right that we do it alone, under the cover of darkness, at moon-high, when it was right overhead. There was a statue in the back corner of the gardens, near an old observatory tower, and she said it was of Nightmare Moon…I realize now it was…Kind of. It was Princess Luna, I think, and it was super old. Maybe thousands of years old. We’d leave our offerings there, and she always said it would be bad luck if we were caught.”

She gave a bit of a self deprecating laugh. “…I’m sure that sounds kind of stupid. I’m not a little filly anymore, this isn’t Equestria, and you’re not Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna. I don’t even know why it mattered to me.”

“Sunset…” Principal Celestia’s voice struck a chord in her, and she found herself looking obediently to the educator, even though she was a human woman and not the Sun Goddess of her foalhood. “…It’s not stupid to want to remain connected to where you come from. I don’t know much about your home or its customs, but it seems like it was very different from ours. I know you’re trying to fit in here, in this world, to make it your home…” The woman smiled at her. “…but there’s no shame in wanting to remember where you come from, to hold on to traditions and holidays and little beliefs that meant a great deal to you.”

“…You…you think so?” It was something she hadn’t really given much thought to, if she was honest with herself. The last five years had been spent planning for a return home, so she’d mostly ignored the human holidays and any resemblance they had to those she knew, and after her defeat… most of the major Equestrian holidays had an emphasis on sharing them with friends and family….celebrating them alone would defeat the purpose of many of them. This…gave her something to really think about. “You don’t think it’d be weird to celebrate Equestria’s holidays here?”

“If it meant that much to you,” Luna pointed out, “then there is no harm in doing things to celebrate those traditions that you cherish. Or sharing them with people you trust or care about.” She tapped a fingernail on the plate. “…I might not be Princess Luna…but on her behalf, consider this offering of cookies acceptable.” A smirk played across her lips. “…In fact, I would even go so far as to say you have more than earned your ‘soul’ for the evening, Miss Shimmer. You are free to go home and enjoy your holiday.”

Sunset stared, but found a smile creeping onto her face as she practically raced out the door.

She was half a block from home when her phone rang. She answered it, worry creasing her brow. “Sparky? Everything okay?”

“Sunset! I’m okay—I just wanted to ask you something.”

The redhead smiled, adjusting her backpack. “…Well, I got to head home early, so I’m all ears. What’s up?”

“Are you doing anything for Halloween tonight?”

Sunset fished her keys out of her pocket. “…Sit at home, read that mystery novel I picked up at the bookstore…why?”

Her friend’s voice picked up cheerfully. “…I know we’re kind of old for trick-or-treating, but I told Mom I’d hand out candy this year—she and Dad got invited to go to a Rocky Horror experience thrown by an old friend of theirs…and I was kind of wondering if you wanted to join me to hand out the candy. Maybe eat some of whatever is left after.”

Feeling warmth spark in her, Sunset dropped her backpack on the couch. “That sounds like fun, Sparky. I’ll head over in a few. I need to bring anything?”

“Just you, unless you have a costume.”

Thirty minutes later she was knocking on Twilight’s door, the last box of cookies in hand. The dark haired girl opened it and pulled her inside. “Happy Halloween, Sunny!”

Sunset stared for a long minute at Twilight, taking in the costume she was wearing: black dress that went to just above the knee, paired with striped tights and a pointy black hat.

—She’s dressed as a witch,— the obnoxious voice in the back of her mind supplied.

She had gathered that much, and didn’t need it pointed out. It had just surprised her. She figured the other girl would go for something sciencey. “Nice costume. Were they out of mad-scientist garb?”

Twilight laughed. “No, Sunny! I just didn’t plan on doing much this year, and Mom asked me last minute to hand out candy. This was in a trunk of old costume stuff in the attic!” Then she skipped forward and plunked something down on Sunset’s head. “I even found something for you!”

Sunset reached up with her free hand, fingers finding the soft texture of fake furry ears. “Uhhh…” she started, even as her friend handed her a belt with a long black fluffy tail attached. “…What?”

More laughter. “Its your costume! Every witch needs a cat!”

“I…but…”

—Oh, just wear the costume. It’ll make her happy.—

There was something incredibly irritating about having a part of one’s own head be snide, she decided. It didn’t stop her from putting on the tail-belt, giving Twilight her best dead eyed expression and uttering “Meow,” in a complete and total deadpan.

The dark haired girl busted out laughing. “So accurate! Were you a cat in another life?” she teased, dumping bags of tiny candy bars into a big bowl.

Not thinking about future repercussions, Sunset’s mouth answered without input from her brain. “…No, I was a unicorn,” she responded sarcastically.

That only made Twilight laugh harder. “I’m sure you were the prettiest little unicorn ever!” she teased, giving Sunset a hug. “I just hope you don’t mind being a cat tonight though? I didn’t think any of the other costumes would fit right.”

“Sparky,” the redhead said with an eyeroll, trying not to dwell on the unintentional compliment to her actual form. “It’s fine.” Then she changed the subject, holding out the box. “I…brought cookies for us to have later?” she offered hesitantly, her confidence draining out of her a little. She couldn’t exactly explain what it meant for her to share cookies on Nightmare Night with someone to Twilight, and she worried that the whole thing might seem a little off to the other girl.

Twilight peeked in the box. “…Oooo! We’ll have to have these after we get done handing out candy! Maybe with some ice cold milk? They smell really good. Go set them in the kitchen. Mom left us money for pizza if we get hungry…Did you want to order it now, before it gets dark?”

Sunset set the cookies on the kitchen counter. “…I like pizza,” she called back. “Mushrooms on my half?”

“Consider it done!”

By the time the sun went down, the pizza was gone but for a few crumbs and part of a bit of crust Spike was gnawing on, both teens happy and content. Sunset glanced out the front window, seeing flashlights beginning to bob along the sidewalk. “Heads up, Sparky.”

When the bell rang, Twilight handed Sunset the candy bowl while she took a handful to drop into the waiting buckets and pillowcases of a group of children. When she leaned forward, Sunset’s stupid inner voice whistled.

—Sparky’s got some nice legs. You seeing this? She really is cute for a human.—

The way she was leaning had made the dress lift a little in the back and pull tight against her backside. Sunset found herself with eyes that kept drifting down, despite how hard she tried to find somewhere else to park her vision. It didn’t help that that stupid voice kept giving her commentary.

—She’s no mare, but…you could do worse.—

How many times she’d have to reiterate it, she didn’t know, but the voice needed to get the hint. She did not find humans attractive.

—Then why are you staring at her butt?—

She was not staring! Sunset fought the urge to growl at herself, and jerked her head to look at one of the photos on the wall. Photos were safe. It didn’t stop the stupid traitor voice from laughing at her though.

It was almost midnight when Twilight Velvet and Night Light slipped inside, still dressed up from their holiday outing. When a call for their daughter got no response, the parents peeked into the living room, only to find a pair of passed out teenagers on the sofa, an empty box that once housed cookies on the coffee table, as well as the scattered and empty wrappers to a bunch of candy. Twilight had fallen over at some point, and opted to use her friend’s thigh as a pillow.
“….I think we’re the only parents on the block who can leave a teenager home alone, and come back not to a party, but to a sweets massacre,” Night Light commented.

“It's still nice to see Twily having someone over to the house again,” Velvet pointed out, setting aside a bag of props to cover the girls with blankets. “And if they demolish a bunch of sweets and a few pizzas in the process, I think we can afford to let it slide.” Gentle fingers stroked over her daughter’s hair, then Sunset’s, in a motherly gesture.

Sunset stirred slightly, not enough to wake, but enough for the arm that had been flung over the back of the sofa to to drop down, draping over Twilight’s shoulder. Velvet chuckled and ushered her husband upstairs—but not before she used her phone to snap a picture.

"Are there any virgins in the house?"

The Rocky Horror reference came up when I was coming up with a last minute reason for why Velvet and Night would be out last minute. It then spiraled into a hilarious conversation of how would they dress and what props would they bring.

It's prolly good that Sunset was asleep and didn't have to deal with Twilight's father doing his best take on Tim Curry's Dr. Frank-N-Furter. I'm not sure our little lost unicorn could have handled that well. Not without further deciding that there is something seriously wrong with us freaky little monkeys.