It was a bright autumnal day, about a week before the nightmare would begin. The breeze was crisp and sent leaves dancing and tumbling playfully in the streets, even as the sun still shone merrily. Though it was sad to see summer end, the ponies of Equestria knew the necessity of all four seasons, so most of the town of Ponyville walked with a spring in their step despite the chill that hung in the air. None were perhaps as chipper as Pinkie Pie though. The self proclaimed friend of everypony, the pink mare was a ball of energy as she went about putting up decorations for the coming Nightmare Night celebrations. There was so much to do, even with help, she had to start a week in advance to get it all done in time. This was no chore for Pinkie though as she loved decorating like this and watching the town transform before her eyes from its usual quaint self to one just a little bit scary, but fun.

Since it was afternoon and school had let out, a few of the town’s children were helping her spread fake spider webbing around the post office. They had to clear away a few very real cobwebs before they started. Not many ponies visited the post office themselves these days.

“Ugh...this is a waste of time. I don’t know why daddy insists we help with these decorations when nopony is ever going to see them,” moaned Diamond Tiara. “The only ponies that bother with the post office are practically Nightmare Night decorations themselves!” The pampered filly sneered at a pair of near-sighted, elderly ponies who were busy trying to figure out how many bits it would cost to send a package to Baltimare.

“Totally,” agreed Silver Spoon, as usual, ”It’s a waste of time when their eyesight is so bad they can’t even actually see the decorations anyway.” Silver Spoon turned up her nose and walked over to the box of decorations, inspecting them. “Besides, if they did, it might give them a heart attack,” she added with fake concern. “We should really move on to somewhere more interesting like the mall or the bowling alley. At least then we could do a little shopping or have some fun...after we finished decorating of course.” She feigned a look of innocence, knowing from experience that her silver tongue and good looks were the key to getting her way.

“Now girls, the mayor has trusted us to decorate the whole, entire town!" exclaimed Pinkie, spreading her hooves in the air as if to encompass all of Ponyville. "It wouldn’t be the whole town if we only hung spider webs and pumpkin lights in storefronts and shopping malls.” Pinkie Pie bubbled as she went about festooning the quiet post office with black and purple streamers. “Besides, it's way more fun to transform an old boring post office into someplace exciting than it would be to make an already interesting place more exciting!” She smiled awkwardly as the postmaster gave her a look from behind the counter. “No offense!” Just then, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo tumbled in front of Pinkie Pie all at once. They were supposed to be spreading the webbing in the rafters, but had somehow managed to get themselves hopelessly tangled up with one another. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara led the other children in laughing at their misfortune. It didn’t take Pinkie long to extract the trio of friends, though she almost got herself just as badly tangled in the process, “What happened?”
“Ah’m sorry Pinkie Pie, it was all mah fault. Me an’ mah friends got to talkin’ about all the candy we was gonna get come Nightmare Night and Ah must have gotten a little distracted.” Applebloom grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in. “We had a ball last year going around with you and collecting candy!”

“Even after we left half of it for Nightmare Moon, we still had plenty to share,” added Sweetie Belle cheerfully. “I’m sure we’ll have lots again this year, even after we leave our tribute!”

“Ugh, leave it to you blank flanks to still be giving up your candy to ‘Nightmare Moon’. Everypony knows it’s just Celestia’s sister. She’s not going to gobble you up if you don’t give her some of your candy!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

“We kept all our candy last year,” added Silver Spoon,” and as you can see, we’re doing just fine. It was truly amazing too. You know the neighborhood where I live, they give out full sized candy bars by the hoof full. We were still eating Nightmare Night candy at Hearth’s Warming!” The spoiled fillies smiled, drinking in their peers jealousy, both real and imagined.

“But I’m sure it won’t matter if you do decide to leave a few ‘fun size’ treats in the dirt,” grinned Diamond Tiara in a predatory fashion, “So the big bad princess won’t gobble you up!” At that the pair laughed uproariously. Applebloom and her friends just looked at each other. Sometimes Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s sense of humor just didn’t seem all that funny. Even so, Applebloom wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.

“Well, we ain’t gonna leave any of our candy then, either. In fact, Ah bet we can collect more candy than you two, even with yer fancy full size candy bars!” said the fiery haired filly.

“Oh really? Care to make that a bet then? Whoever has the most candy wins. Let say, the losers have to give up all their candy?” said Silver Spoon, a grin playing at the corner of her mouth.

“You’re on!” cried Scootaloo.

“Now hold on girls, you can’t go crazy hoarding candy like that! Leaving an offering for Nightmare Moon is an important Nightmare Night tradition,” said Pinkie Pie. ”I mean sure, it’s tempting to hold onto all of those gummy bears, and candy apples, and candy bars, and...and pixie sticks, and lollipops and gumdrops and...what were we talking about?” The pink pony fanned herself with a rubber bat, clearly flustered. “Oh right! But you couldn’t really keep them all for yourself! That’s not what Nightmare Night is about! Right?”

“I...guess you’re right Pinkie Pie,” said Sweetie Belle, looking down sadly at her hooves.

“Backing out of our wager already then?” asked Diamond Tiara with a snide look on her face. “I guess it would be difficult for you blank flanks to compete with us if you’re going to fall for all this ‘tradition’ nonsense. Looks like we win by default. We’ll expect your candy at the end of Nightmare Night. Don’t go throwing too much of it away at the foot of some statue in the woods now!”

“Now hold on!” cried Applebloom, “We ain’t going ta be throwin’ away any candy and we ain’t gonna be welchin' on no bet. You have your candy ready to fork over to us by the end of Nightmare Night! And may the best filly win!”

“Uh...maybe we should move on girls.” tried Pinkie Pie, a little nervous at how serious things had gotten between the young friends. “Who wants to help me decorate the library?”

“PINKIE PIE!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle in bafflement, “ What are you doing!?” A gaggle of fillies and colts had invaded Twilight Sparkle’s home and were clambering clumsily over her neatly arranged shelves. She and Spike had worked the better part of the afternoon taking the autumn audit of what books were checked out, what books were checked in, and what books were in need of repair before they could be returned to the shelves. Now entire stacks of books were slipping, sliding, and plain being knocked over by careless little hooves. And in the middle of it all, Pinkie Pie stood cheerfully, half covered in fake spiderwebs and streamers.

“Oh, hey Twilight!” said the pink pony, clearly delighted to see her friend. In the background Snips and Snails tripped over one another in their efforts to hang bat winged streamers along the stairs leading up to Twilight’s room. They landed in a clumsy, laughing heap that nearly toppled an entire shelf of books. “I was hoping you’d be home soon,” said Pinkie Pie, “Mayor Mare is having me decorate all the public buildings in Ponyville this year for Nightmare Night, but it wouldn’t be half as much fun getting the library ready if I didn’t have your input as well!” Pinkie Pie draped a forelimb over Twilight’s shoulder and guided her through the barely controlled chaos of laughing and shouting children. “I was thinking ‘Bats! Bats everywhere!’ hanging from the ceiling and the stairs. Something to really catch everypony’s eye when they walk in!”

Twilight couldn’t help being distracted as fillies ran back and forth, some trailing decorations in their wake while others just seemed to be playing some kind of game. “But Pinkie, this is my home! We didn’t decorate the library last year, inside or out.”

“I know! And I got to thinking, that was a real shame. It’s unfair that folks can only enjoy the fun of Nightmare Night downtown or in the big shops and not in other places like boring old post offices and libraries.” Twilight glared at her friend, “No offense! I just wanted to make sure that no matter where a pony goes in Ponyville that the spirit of Nightmare Night will be with them, you know?”

Twilight stared into Pinkie Pie’s sincere grinning face. For all the bedlam, it was tough to face that hopeful, well meaning smile and not cave just a little. “I...guess Pinkie Pie, if the Mayor approves.” The party pony gave a happy little leap, pounding one hoof in the air before Twilight quickly added, “but please don’t go overboard! And do your work quietly! This is still a library and other ponies have a right to expect peace and quiet when they come here.” Pinkie Pie gave a little salute and seemed as though she was about to say something in reply when a loud crash came from the back of the room. With all the close calls, it was only a matter of time before an entire shelf of books would be knocked to the floor. Far from anypony being hurt, however, the perpetrators were shouting at one another amid the wreckage of scattered books. Diamond Tiara and Applebloom’s animated argument threatened to damage the books further as each filly seemed to be stomping mad.

“Will not!”

“Will so!”

“Will not!”

“Will so!”

“Girls, girls, what’s all this about?” cried Twilight, using her magic to separate the two fillies.

“She started it. She keeps saying we’re going to chicken out, but Ah won’t stand for her talkin’ ‘bout us that way!” cried a very agitated Applebloom.

“Oh please, Appleblank," sneered Diamond Tiara. "Like there’s anything you can do about it!” Twilight settled the pair back to the floor but still held them back from each other.

Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie as she struggled to keep the fillies from hurting themselves or anypony else. “What in Equestria are they talking about?” she demanded.

“Oh, you know how kids are,” mumbled the pink pony, smiling nervously. “They...kind of have a bet going about who can collect the most candy." Pinkie quickly added to the fillies, "But they’re just going to have to collect that much more after they leave some for Nightmare Moon, right girls?”

“As if,” replied Silver Spoon flippantly, standing with her nose in the air next to her friend.

“No way!” retorted Scootaloo, jumping in the air and fluttering her little wings in irritation.

“But leaving a tithe of candy for Nightmare Moon is one of the oldest traditions of Nightmare Night!” said Twilight Sparkle, shocked. “No bet can be worth breaking from tradition like that. I mean remember last year? Wasn’t it fun to leave a little candy so Nightmare Moon wouldn’t get you?”

“Geez, listen to her," said Diamond Tiara dismissively, sharing a glance with Silver Spoon, "You’d think she was just some common pony and not Celestia’s student. Did you leave any candy for your teacher's sister?”

“Well...no," admitted Twilight, "However, I did when I was younger. Every Nightmare Night my brother and I would leave a little pile next to the statue in Canterlot. Though that was just a statue of Luna, not really Nightmare Moon. Celestia didn’t seem to like the image of her sister as a monster. I remember when...”

Twilight’s eyes grew misty with memory, but Silver Spoon sighed heavily, interrupting her. “I’m sure you have many wonderful memories of the good old days, but do you really think Luna is going to ‘get’ anypony that doesn’t leave her candy? She didn’t get you, after all," she pointed out disdainfully.

“Well of course not silly, Twilight isn’t a filly!” laughed Pinkie Pie, trying to diffuse the situation.

Twilight for her part, however, seemed to grow thoughtful. “No...I guess she’s right Pinkie Pie. There’s no point in lying. Princess Luna may be a little strange, but she’s not dangerous. Nightmare Night is fun pretend, but honestly I don’t see any harm from them not giving up a bit of their candy. Even if it is against tradition.”

Pinkie seemed genuinely shocked by her friend’s words. “Don’t listen to her girls,” said Pinkie urgently. “We have these traditions for a reason. The decorations, the costumes, the jack-o-lanterns, the offerings to Nightmare Moon; they were started to protect us! There’s no good reason to turn your back on all that now! Not so close to Nightmare Night,” the usually jovial pony pleaded, her deep blue eyes wide with worry. The girls and Twilight gave Pinkie a funny look, not really understanding what all the fuss was about. “Here, I’ll show you, I know it’s around here somewhere...”

Pinkie Pie started rummaging through the fallen books. It always amazed Twilight that, regardless of how disorganized the library might become, Pinkie Pie could always turn up just the book she was looking for. She wouldn’t normally have suspected it to have something to do with the party pony's ‘Pinkie Sense’, but the alternative was that Pinkie Pie might have a better grasp of the library's organization than Twilight, Spike, and Owlowiscious combined. Somehow that was a more unsettling conclusion than Pinkie's sixth sense. “Here it is!” Pinkie Pie cried triumphantly as she lifted an old, dark book from one of the piles that were bound for the repair room. It didn’t look like much, or even as if it had anything to do with Nightmare Night. Instead of the Mare in the Moon, a Crescent Eye, or some other Nightmare Night symbol, there was only a woodcut of a few pieces of candy carved into the cover

“Ye Olde Tricks and Treats? Wow Pinkie, that book looks like it’s seen better days.” Twilight examined the book closely. It was hard to tell if it had been damaged in the fall from the shelves or if it had already been in such poor shape. “You should put it back so Spike can fix it up before it falls apart.” Twilight’s magic enveloped the book, but Pinkie Pie held onto it firmly.

“No, seriously Twilight!" the party pony urged. "You and the girls should really read what this book has to say! There’s more to Nightmare Night than just getting as much candy as possible.” Pinkie looked shocked at her own words but struggled all the harder against the pull of Twilight’s magic. “And this is me saying that! You know how much I love sweets!”

“Let...go...Pinkie!” Twilight strained, her magic insufficient to shake off her friends oddly adamant grasp.

By now Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had wandered away to make some other pony's life miserable, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders watched the struggle between Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie go back and forth. All three winced as a loud rip echoed throughout the library and a cascade of book pages fluttered through the air. Between the two of them, Twilight and Pinkie had managed to break the books fragile spine, sending its delicate pages in all directions. Both ponies seemed shocked at what had happened.

“Uh...” started Applebloom. “We’ll just, head on now Pinkie. Ah got chores Ah need ta get ta doin' back home.”

“Yeah, and I promised Rainbow Dash I’d pick up her dry cleaning,” added Scootaloo as she nudged a distracted Sweetie Belle.

“Oh...oh yeah, and I need to go make sure that uh...Rarity’s order of new material for her Nightmare Night costume came in!” managed Sweetie Belle, her eyes glued firmly to the floor.

The trio scurried away before what would surely be an explosive argument between the two friends, but Sweetie Belle hung back a moment. Her eyes had lit on a few of the pages that had fallen from the old tattered book. No pony was looking as she discretely stuffed the pages into her school bag and trotted quickly after her friends.

Outside, Applebloom and Scootaloo were already a good ways down the street. Applebloom kicked at a pile of dead leaves. Any chores, real or made up, forgotten as the pair headed toward Sweet Apple Acres and the privacy of their clubhouse. Applebloom was still furious. “Ah just can’t believe Diamond Tiara! Why does she and Silver Spoon always gotta turn everythin’ into a competition? I mean landsakes, Nightmare Night is supposed to be fun! Who cares who gets the most candy or not?”

“Seemed like you did, back there,” chimed in Scootaloo, crunching a few dead leaves herself.

“Ah know, Ah know!” Applebloom sighed heavily. “Ah just can’t help it. Those fillies get under my skin worse than ticks on a hound dog. But it’s too late to back down now. We gotta find a way to beat em!”

Scootaloo gave her wings a few hummingbird-like flutters as she bounced in the air, trying to cheer her friend up. “That shouldn’t be too hard. It’s three against two! Even if we did end up leaving a little candy for Nightmare Moon.” Applebloom glared at her friend who quickly added, "Which we’re not! I’m just saying even if we did, we should still have more candy than they do at the end of the night.”

“Hey...I guess you’re right Scootaloo.” said Applebloom, smiling as some of her anger drained away. "Those two ain't got a chance against the combined might of tha Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

“Don’t be... so sure... of that,” panted Sweetie Belle as she finally caught up with her two friends. “Remember what happened at the egg hunt during the last ‘Spring Has Sprung’ celebration?”

Scootaloo tilted her head back as if she were trying to visualize the event that Rarity’s little sister spoke of. “Yeah... Diamond Tiara bet she would find the most chocolate eggs. We thought for sure we had beat her, but then it turned out she had a good fifty baskets worth of chocolate. I had no idea there were even that many eggs hidden!”

“That’s because there weren’t that many hidden.” Sweetie Belle slowed to a canter beside her friends as she caught her breath. The trio turned onto the dirt road that led out of town. It wouldn’t be much longer until they were at their clubhouse. “I overheard my sister gossiping a while after that, and she was saying that Diamond Tiara didn’t even bother hunting for any eggs. Instead her father had gotten her an entire pallet of those chocolates from his outlet store. All she did while we were running around like a bunch of agitated chickens was fill up her baskets, laughing the whole time.”

“But that’s cheatin’! Why didn’t ya say anythin’ sooner Sweetie Belle!?” demanded Applebloom, stomping in the dust.

“Well, I didn’t want Rarity to know I was eavesdropping on her. Besides, we had already forked over our eggs months ago! There was no getting them back.” Sweetie Belle looked down sadly as she walked. “Rarity was just as outraged when it happened, but there was nothing anypony could do. There was no rule against somepony ‘finding’ a pallet full of eggs.”

“So you think she’s going to do the same thing this time?” asked Scootaloo as the trio weaved their way through the outskirts of the apple orchard.. “You think she’s going to get Filthy Rich to just buy her a bunch of candy and then she’ll say she collected it?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. I don’t remember seeing her or Silver Spoon once while we were trick or treating with Pinkie Pie last year.” said Sweetie Belle matter-of-factually.

“So that’s it, we’re beat before we even start!” Applebloom smacked her head dramatically into the front door of the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. “We’re done for!”

“Not necessarily,” said Sweetie Belle as she gently nudged Applebloom out of the way so she could open the door. The unicorn filly rummaged in her saddle bag as her friends followed in behind her. “Though we’d never be able to come up with the kind of money Diamond Tiara’s dad has, there is something we could do.” Carefully, Sweetie Belle spread the pages she snatched at the library on the tiny table the fillies used to make their plans.

Scootaloo examined the old wrinkled paper, “Hey...aren’t these pages from that book Pinkie Pie was trying to show us?”

“Yup!”

“What do ya have in mind?” asked Applebloom, confused.

“I noticed something about these pages before we left the library. A lot of that book looks like it was history and mythology. Except these pages right here are recipes for all different kinds of classic Nightmare Night treats and candy!” Sweetie Belle beamed, self satisfied in her own brilliance, but her friends just stared at her. “Don’t you get it? We can’t buy extra candy like that cheating Diamond Tiara, but we can make extra candy instead!”

Scootaloo screwed up her face suspiciously, “So to counter her cheating, we’ll cheat too?”

“Don’t think of it as cheating,” said Sweetie Belle, smoothing out the parchment. “Think of it as evening the playing field. We’ll still go trick or treating on Nightmare Night, but if Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara don’t, then we’ll have more candy than they do for sure! This is just to make sure they play fair. And since these pages seem to have all the original recipes for a variety of candy, no pony can accuse us of just buying store bought candy. It’s the perfect plan!”

“Ah don’t know Sweetie Belle,” said Applebloom. “It seems a mite dishonest to me.”

“I’m with Applebloom," said Scootaloo, settling on her haunches. "I want to put those two high and mighty fillies in their place as much as the next pony, but this doesn’t feel right.” Scootaloo looked over the pages, “And besides, this seems like it might be a lot of work, too. We’re not exactly the best chefs in Ponyville. Pretty much everything we try to cook we end up burning.” She made a face, remembering a few incidents with some very burnt cupcakes.

“That’s the best part!” said Sweetie Belle excitedly. “I’ve been looking for something to do with my sister for Nightmare Night since she won’t let me help make costumes. Rarity is a great cook, and I’m sure she’ll help me make all kinds of sweets. I bet if Applebloom asked Applejack, she would help out too.”

“That's... Actually not a bad plan.” said Scootaloo thoughtfully. “I could probably talk to Pinkie Pie and get her to help me make some candy as well. Pinkie’s always looking for an excuse to make more sweets.”

“The trick there is keepin’ her from eatin’ what she makes,” giggled Applebloom. “But Ah dunno girls, are ya sure y'all want ta do this? Ah ain't one ta back down from a challenge, it's just even with help, Ah gotta say Ah still have mah doubts.”

“Let me put it to you this way Applebloom,” said Sweetie Belle, passing each filly a page from the old Nightmare Night book with her magic. “Do you really think you can stand to see that smug look on Diamond Tiara’s face if she takes all our candy again?”

It’s more beautiful than I could have imagined! The buildings are so tall! Look at them soaring so high! And all the pretty flags and banners! Oh daddy, why did you wait so long to bring me here?

Because, my little moppet, the castle can be as dangerous as it is beautiful. Much like its inhabitants, really. This city is even more dangerous to the likes of you and I. Keep your wits about yerself my dear. There’s magic about here and no mistake. Ponies appearin’ and disappearin’ all the time there is. One more little filly disappearin’ won’t bother these folks none.

Oh magic! Real magic! Do you think we’ll get to see some daddy?

I’ve no doubt my love, these unicorn-folk can’t seem to live without it. Not that we can either, mind. Somepony has to raise the sun or the crops don’t grow. Step lively now, there will be plenty of time to gawk after we’ve delivered our goods.

Wow! Is that where we’re going Da? The other buildings were so stately but this one looks like...why I don’t know what it looks like! So many bright colors, so many happy faces! And the smell, oh what is that heavenly sweet smell!?

I knew you’d like it dear. Yes, this is that unicorn fellows sweet shop I mentioned. I have to admit, it is a sight! It looks like a sweetie itself it does. Best we bring our produce round the back. These unicorns can get right stuffy about what sorts can walk through their front doors and what sorts can’t.

Do we have to? It’s so dark this way. The front is so inviting.

Front or back makes no difference to our business moppet. Business first, then as I say, plenty of time for gawkin’ and messing about before we go home.

But I don’t even want to think about going home! Not yet! This place is so amazing Da. I wish we could stay here forever and ever!
And who would take care of yer mum if we did that my sweet? Put such thoughts from your mind. Here’s our patron now! Ho gov! Brought you a fresh shipment, I have, and my little one as you suggested! She’s ever so fascinated by your shop she is. Is it alright if we have a step in and have a look about?

Certainly. Why I insist good sir. Come right in. Ah, and is this the daughter you spoke of so glowingly?

Indeed she is your lordship, the apple of our eye this one, our pride and joy!

Hello little one, I do so adore children. It’s why I took this shop over when my dear grandmother passed away.

(Da, he closed the door by just lookin’ at it! Was that magic Da?)

(Indeed it was dear, now mind your manners, don’t whisper in front of the gentlecolt!)

Here you are little one. A taste of something sweet, as I promised your father.

Oh, cor! I’ve never tasted something like this! It’s so rich and creamy. Oh what’s it called?

Chocolate. One of the finer varieties we offer here. Here, have some more.

My goodness. This ones even sweeter mister. I love it! So fine, I can hardly believe it! I could just eat them all day!

I’m so glad you feel that way.

Here now, you’ll spoil the child you will. We’ve not but greens and flowers to eat at home, and we count ourselves quite lucky to have that with this unnatural cold we’ve been having.

Please... Allow me to indulge the child. I do so love to see a happy, smiling face on somepony who truly appreciates my confections. It won’t hurt her, I assure you. Here child, try this one, I think you will find it most interesting.

Oh, this one tastes funny Da. It’s sweet enough but it also tastes kind of chilly. I feel funny.

Well of course you do sweetheart. All that sugar in yer little body, bound to make you feel odd. I think that's enough gov. Begging your pardon, but she’s just not used to such fancy things as you have here.

No Da, I feel really, really weird. All floaty and....strange. Da...Da...where are you? Why can’t I see? Why can’t I hear!?

…

What...what did you do? Where did she go?

She’s underfoot I’m sure. Most children are. But nothing you need concern yourself with. The child is quite safe. You, on the other hoof...well. The city is quite dangerous, you know. There’s magic about. Ponies appearing and disappearing all the time. One more little pony disappearing won’t bother anyone.

Stay back! What are you doing with those knives!?

I thought that was obvious dear fellow. Making you disappear.