As she quietly shut the front door behind her, Lyra perked her ears to try and find out what state her party was in. She expected to hear talking and laughter, but instead, only the ticking of the hallway clock greeted her. That was either a good sign or a really bad one.

She walked up to the hallway cabinet and return the unused pouch of rainy-day bits, making sure to first remove the wooden spoon. Stepping lightly, she approach the door to the living room and peaked inside.

To Lyra’s relief, nopony was present. So, that meant there was about a ninety percent chance that the guests just hadn’t arrived yet and only a ten percent chance they had been so disgusted at the lack of candy that they had stormed out mere moments after stepping through the door.

Still, only one way to find out.

“Bon Bon? I’m home!”

A clatter came from the kitchen that sounded like a plate being set a little too hard on a table. This was followed by the sound of rapidly approaching hooves on tile. Bon Bon stuck her head out the kitchen doorway, her eyes wide. Upon seeing Lyra, she smiled, and stepped into the hallway. She wore the black cloak from her Nightmare Night costume; though her pointy witch’s hat was missing.

“Lyra. You were gone so long, I was starting to worry something happened.”

“Sorry,” Lyra said sheepishly. “I would have been back sooner, but there was this huge cart wreck in the town square. Apparently, the pegasus who was pulling it’s harness snapped. Don’t worry. Nopony got hurt, but there was a ton of ponies standing around gawking.”

Bon Bon smirked and said, “Were you one of the gawkers?”

“Anyway,” Lyra said, quickly changing the topic. She held up the bowl of candy with her magic. “Ta da!”

“Lyra! You did it!”

Lyra grinned, basking in the glory of her accomplishment.

“Although…”

Lyra’s grin faltered somewhat.

Bon Bon shook her. “I really do need to apologize to you.”

Lyra blinked. “Huh?” She started having a dread suspicion that she was about the hear something she didn’t like.

“After you were gone for a while and the cooking settled down, I started thinking that maybe I was too hard on you. As it got closer and closer to the party starting, I realized that I would much rather have had you here than the candy, but by then it was too late to go look for you. So, I’m sorry.” Bon Bon smiled. “I’m happy that you managed to find some candy, but I’m happier that you made it back in time.”

“Oh! Uh…” Lyra felt a blush coming on. “Thanks.”

“I also see that you found my spoon,” Bon Bon said, nodding toward it floating alongside the bowl.

“Oh! Uh…” Lyra began heading towards the living room. “Yeah, it’s a crazy story, but don’t worry. I recovered it and brought it back safe and sound.”

Once in the living room, Lyra walked up to the glass bowl she had pilfered of candy earlier and dumped the fresh bowl into it. When she had finished, she turned towards Bon Bon. “Taffy, lollipops, caramels, and jawbreakers may not be as special as your homemade candy, but it should work for tonight.”

Bon Bon nodded. “Yes, they will work fine. You do know you’re going to have to tell me about today. I have a feeling you’ve had quite an adventure.”

Lyra rolled her eyes and laughed. “That’s putting it lightly. We don’t have time before the party, but the abridged version is that you were right. Every store was sold out of candy, including Sugarcube Corner. Luckily, Pinkie agreed to share some of her candy with me if I agreed to test their haunted house.”

Seeing Bon Bon’s eyes widen, Lyra decided to milk the story for all it was worth. “Now, I knew how important getting this candy was, so the only thing I could do was get over my traumatic foalhood experience, realize that even if ghosts aren’t real, they can still be scary, and then bravely face the horrors, laughing and screaming along the way.”

Before Bon Bon could reply, saying how amazingly impressed she was, Lyra’s excitement got the better of her and she blurted out, “We have to be first in line tomorrow night! That haunted house was so cool, and it wasn’t even finished yet. There’s this—well, I can’t spoil it. But the ending is crazy! After all the scary stuff, there’s a slide all the way from Sugarcube Corner’s roof down to this vat filled with slime that’s actually green jelly. At least, I think it was jelly. Well, it tasted like apples, whatever it was.”

Bon Bon giggled and shook her head. “Well, I’m glad you were able to start enjoying haunted houses. I can’t claim to have had any life-changing experiences today, but I did finish all the food. The banana bread is sliced, the soup is chilled, and the sweet potatoes are ooey and gooey and just being kept warm in the oven.”

“Chilled soup?” Lyra asked, hoping she had only misheard.

“It’s gazpacho. It’s supposed to be served cold. Please at least try some as it is before you heat it up.”

Still trying to wrap her mind around cold soup, Lyra just pressed her lips together and nodded.

“I do have to say that I love what you did with the decorations,” Bon Bon said, slowly spinning around to take in the room. “Although, you did go a little heavy on the cobwebs.”

Lyra looked around at the web-covered lamps, end tables, and curtains. “Wow! Those little guys were busy while I was gone.”

“Huh?”

Then, Lyra notice the plate on the table filled with perfectly cut squares of baking deliciousness. She gasped and looked at Bon Bon, unable to keep the eager excitedness from her eyes.

“Go ahead,” Bon Bon said, nodding at the Cinnamon Surprise Brownies. “You’ve more than earned it.”

Slowly, Lyra lifted a brownie with her magic. As it came closer to her mouth, she could smell the array of spices that would elevate the chocolate to a whole new level. She bit down, and for that moment, her taste buds knew only bliss.

“Oh,” Lyra said with her mouth full. “They get better every time you make them!” As much as she didn’t want to, she had to swallow before she choked on her own saliva. Thankfully, there was plenty more brownie to go. “You really need to tell me what the surprise in these is some day.”

Bon Bon gasped and looked away. She chewed her lip while rubbing one foreleg with the other. “Th-the surprise? Well, you worked so hard today. It’s, um… the flour. It’s a starch made from a certain root.” She squealed a bit and shook her head. “I mean. You like them, so I shouldn’t say more.”

Lyra laughed. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to tell me. Honestly, if I knew how to make them, they’d probably not be as special anymore.”

Whatever reply Bon Bon was about to make got cut off as a knock sounded from the front door.

“Oh! They’re here,” Bon Bon said. “A little late, but now the party can begin.”

“They were probably looking at the same cart wreck I was. I mean! The same one I saw earlier but passed by quickly because I wasn’t lollygagging.”

Bon Bon hmmed and smiled, then started walking towards the door. “I’ll go greet them,” she said. “That’ll give you time to get into your costume.”

A sinking sensation came over Lyra and she had to lick her suddenly dry lips. “Costume?” Lyra asked weakly.

Bon Bon nearly stumbled as she turned around. Her eyes darted about as her mouth tried to form words.

In this situation, Lyra knew what she had to do: laugh like she never laughed before.

“Sorry… sorry,” Lyra said between giggles. “I couldn’t resist. I’ll go put it on.”

Giggling as well, Bon Bon held a hoof to her chest. Another knock came from the door. She smiled once more at Lyra before leaving the room.

Lyra made her way out the back of the living room and further into the house. She figured she had about five minutes to come up with, create, and put on a costume before Bon Bon would come check on her. A toilet-paper mummy would work, but Lyra wore that costume last year. This year, she decided she was in the mood to go as a bed-sheet ghost.

Taking another bite from her brownie, Lyra knew this was the start of the best Nightmare Night ever.