Pumpkin Patch The perfect pumpkin

[Ancre]

Yar ! Whirlwind was dressed as a pirate, with a cool black tricorne, a fake eye patch with a pony skull drawing on it, a sabre and a gun, and a peg leg oddly fitting on her amputated back leg. She still couldn't walk, but that didn't stop the little filly from having fun !

She had come to the Harvest Spook-Tacular festival with her parents, and was now happily flying around the festival grounds. Cotton candy, toy shops, carnival games, everything promised her she'd spend an awesome time here.

But one thing attracted her attention : just off the main festival grounds, there was a “Pumpkin Patch” which really was more like a gigantic field full of pumpkins, of all sizes and all shapes. Curious, the little pony flew toward it.

It was like entering in another world. The Pumpkin Patch was lit by a lot of tiny lanterns inside carved pumpkins : a thousand tiny orange dots of light dotted the fields and stretched the shadows across the pathways, lengthening the creepy smiles of the pumpkins. The only other light was coming from the stars, and both stretched as far as the eye could see. White dots and orange dots illuminated the world and reached the horizon, where they finally met.

The place was calm, and eerily quiet : there wasn't many ponies walking around the patch at this time of the night, and the vastness of the fields and the skies made them look small and insignificant anyways. Here and there Whirlwind could hear sounds of ponies chatting, giggles and playful screams, or the muffled noises of the festival.

And the carved pumpkins all smiled at her. Some of them had crudely shaped pointy teeth ; some of them bore evil looks. Some looked happy, some looked sad, some looked angry. Some even looked like carefully detailed works of art, picturing a pony, or a cat, or another thing. All of them, with their little light inside them that made their faces glow, were slightly disturbing.

No wonder ponies said there were ghosts around here, the pink pegasus thought. This place was scarier than the haunted house, in its own way.

Whirlwind flew around the field, looking at the pumpkins. She wanted to carve one ! Her parents had said she could, and that they wanted to buy a few pumpkins. She had her knife and everything and she was ready to play and create the creepiest pumpkin of them all. All she needed was to find the perfect one to carve. And so, looking for her pumpkin, deeper and deeper into the fields she flew ...

[RarityDash]

Ardent Fate wore a battle ready expression on her face as she stood alone in a particularly deserted corner of the pumpkin patch, her father's sword clenched tightly in her mouth, dragging on the ground below. She wasn't sure what to make of this Festival. For the most part it didn't interest her. She had dressed in one her father's old knightly cloaks to stay warm on the somewhat brisk night; with it and her sword ponies kept insinuating she was wearing a costume and they didn't seem to believe Fate when she insisted it wasn't one. This "pumpkin carving" interested her though. A whole sprawling pumpkin patch and they were entitled to carve up as many as they pleased? She didn't understand the appeal for most ponies, but for her this was the perfect training grounds!

Fate needed the training too. She could barely hold her sword upright. Her cuts were seldom very straight with it. She was smashing more pumpkins than she was actually carving. Still, she could do it. She just needed to keep practicing and someday she'd be as good as her father was! She was sure.

Fate noticed a particularly large, well shaped pumpkin in front of her a distance. Nodding and focusing on it, she kicked the dirt at her feet. Then she broke into a swift gallop. Approaching the pumpkin, she leapt into the air and moved her sword into a downward arc. Her eyes lit up in delight as she landed on the ground. The pumpkin had been sliced cleanly in half. Satisfied with one of her cleanest cuts ever, Fate decided that this "pumpkin carving" was rewarding. Maybe the other events of the festival could be fun too? She could go try and slay the ghosts haunting the haunted house or maybe she could try and cut a straight path through the corn maze so ponies wouldn't get lost in it... For now though, more slicing up pumpkins was in order.

Glancing backward from the pumpkin, Fate noticed something in the sky above. It was a pegasus pony. Her pelt was pink, but a somewhat lighter shade than Fate's. Her mane was also pink and she looked to be a filly, just like Fate. She was dressed as a pirate and seemed to be looking for something.

[Ancre]

Flying slowly along the paths, Whirlwind could hear faint noises of hacking and slashing echoing from a darker spot in the pumpkin fields. Leaving the safety of the lighted pathway she ventured deeper into pumpkin territory, looking for the source of the strange sounds.

Soon she found them. It was a filly, of about her age, dressed as a knight, swirling a sword that seemed to big or too heavy for her, and doing her best to hack the pumpkins and squashes in clean little bits. The pink pegasus watched her in silence for a while.

The knight filly wasn't very good. There was a lot of smashed pumpkins around her, and her strikes were wobbly most of the time. She was trying to wield that sword correctly, obviously, but right now she was just doing a mess of the vegetable field.

But with a charge and a leap, she finally managed to slice a pumpkin in half, cleanly and evenly. Looking satisfied, the earth pony took a break in her work of destruction and looked around. She spotted Whirlwind flying in the air. Both fillies looked at each other for a moment.

“Hello !” shouted the pink pegasus, before landing near the earth pony, on top of a particularly big pumpkin. “I like your costume, very cool, you really look like a knight, it's very well done, it looks almost real !” she began, trying to sound friendly.

“Why are you squashing the squashes though ? That's not how you carve a pumpkin.” she continued, searching to understand the meaning of the other filly's vandalism. “A sword's too big to carve one, you'll need a knife to make faces like those in the pathways. But you're not trying to carve pumpkins, are you ? You're not supposed to smash them in pieces like this.”

Despite the way she talked, the pink filly wasn't particularly interested in enforcing the rules or anything. She was just curious.

[RarityDash]

The pegasus flew toward Fate. Hovering before Fate, the pegasus then began to ask Fate question after question. Fate could hardly keep up. She stared at the other filly for a long time after she stopped speaking.

"Umm... "Fate started blankly. She decided then to answer all the questions one by one. "I'm not wearing a costume. I'm a real knight... or I'm training to be at least!"

"Squashing them is not the attended effect. I mean to cut them. I need more training," said Fate, giving a nod. "And I wasn't aware there was a special way to carve them, just that they are free to be carved."

"A knife is not a noble weapon worthy of a knight. Why would I be training with one?" Fate said in a low voice. "And yes, I am trying to carve them. I'm carving them in half. Is that not the intent of this event?"

Fate looked up at the Filly and smiled awkwardly. "Did I answer all your questions... or did I miss one?" she asked, not really sure.

[VinylScratch]

Powdered Snow flew across the pumpkin patch, catching glimpses of each of the carved lanterns. She was dressed in a very plain cotton cloud costume, nothing special but she didn't care. She just wanted to finally go and see someplace besides Cloudsdale, and Nightmare Night was an amazing time to do so. Her mother had sent her to live with some of Snow Drift's relatives down on the ground. Her current guardians had sent her off alone due to her excessive nagging and pleading. She had wanted to do this by herself, not letting anypony slow her down. Powdered had never seen pumpkins since they weren't indigenous to Cloudsdale. Her first priority was to find one and begin making a masterpiece.

Her long white mane blew in the autumn breeze as she glided through the field, looking for a free pumpkin to carve. A thought crossed her mind: How do I carve a pumpkin? I use a knife, correct? Oh, darn, I don't have a knife. These were thoughts that she just pushed off to concern herself with later. Drift could hear a conversation going on not far off. She landed and galloped over to find a knight and a floating pink pirate having a rather awkward conversation?

"Hello? Anything the matter here?"

[Ancre]

Whilwind listened to the other filly's explanations, confused. After a long period of silence, the earth pony replied with both assurance and awkwardness that she was a real knight, or at least intending to become one, and that it was the reason she was training in the pumpkin patch, cutting pumpkins in half to learn how to use her sword. She didn't seemed aware that she was in a festival, or even what the festival was about. She seemed out of place.

"Er ..." the pink pegasus started, not quite sure where to begin as well. "You know this is the Harvest Spook-Festival right ? You're not supposed to train to be a knight here, but to carve the pumpkins into funny faces and put a lantern inside them so they glow. Like the ones you must have seen on your way here. There's carved pumpkins all over the place, the ponies who organized the place put them on the sides of the road to light the way. But if slicing them in half is fun for you, it's ok !" she shrugged, smiling.

"So, anyways, you just came here to train to be a knight ? You want to become a guard then ?" she continued, genuinely curious and confused. "It's the stories about ghosts thay drew you here ? I mean, surely there are better training ground in your knight school or wherever you go to learn to be a knight, no ?"

Whirlwind would have continued to drown the poor filly under her questions if she hadn't been interrupted by another pegasus, a grew and white foal dressed as a cloud that looked younger than her. She had come and interrupted the other two fillies the middle of their discussion, wondering if everything was all right.

"Hello !" the pink pegasus greeted her, sitting on her gigantic (and unharmed) pumpkin. "Everything's ok," she started to explain, "miss ..." Whirlwind abruptly turned toward the earth pony knight, "hey, what's your name by the way ?" then turned again toward the grey pegasus, "well, she never carved a pumpkin !"

[RarityDash]

Fate blinked several times as she listened to the pony's explanation. Carve faces into the pumpkins? What was the point of that?

"I had heard word of the festival, but my understanding is somewhat limited," said Fate. "I'm not used to such things. I saw the pumpkins with faces... but I thought they had been possessed by evil spirits... That must be why ponies got in my way when I expressed by desire to vanquish them..." Fate agave a sigh as she remembered events from early that night. Ponies had gotten really mad at her and she had had to run deep into the Pumpkin Patch to escape them. "I'm curious as to the point of giving a pumpkin a face though..." said Fate. "I mean, what purpose does that serve?"

"Oh and knights and guards are not the same. The guards are members of the Royal Equestrian Army. They're a commendable enough organization and anypony is allowed to join. My goal is however much beyond that," Fate declared boldly. "My eyes are cast firmly on the Holy Order of the Destriers, the knightly order to which my father belonged! It's an exclusive order. Unless you're born into some big noble family you have to really prove yourself and be taken as somepony's squire. So yeah, there is no school or anything like that... I'm all on my own, and well--"

Fate cut herself off when she noticed another pony had approached. This was another pegasus filly, dressed as a cloud. She asked if there was anything wrong with the two of them. This in turn prompted the first pegasus to ask Fate her name. She nodded quietly and then spoke.

"My name is Ardent Fate, future greatest knight of all Equestria!" Fate boldly declared. "But you can call me Fate for short. Everypony does."

[VinylScratch]

"Hi, I'm Powdered Snow!" the pegasus filly replied. The pirate pony didn't seem that too peculiar, certainly not asmuch as the one who thought they were a knight. Powdered had heard her mother telling her all this was for pretend fun and games. None of this was real. Was this pony-knight just taking it one step further? Perhaps it was just this night she doned this armor and took on the image of chivalry. The fact that pumpkin guts were all over her didn't seem to make it any better. "Your a knight you say? A good choice. Have you seen any round stables lately? Haha. I myself didn't take the time to create such a wonderful costume." The filly flew over to touch the steel helm. "And your names?

[Ancre]

“I'm Whirlwind !” the pink filly proudly introduced herself after Ardent Fate's declaration. “I'm the flying Dutchmare, the terrible pirate queen of the Seven Skies, terrorizing the ponies of Equestria in my flying ship !” she made up the spot, with the appropriate swings of her sword to punctuate her sayings.

“And in Equestria, ponies carve faces in pumpkins for fun, Ardent Fate ! That's the point. You carve pumpkins, you put on a creepy décor, you tell each other ghost stories, like the one of the headless horse that looms in this very pumpkin field !” she continued with a grin, trying to explain the point of the celebration to a pony who had obviously never heard of it.

“The pumpkins are not really possessed by evil spirits, but ponies puts a lot of work into them, so they're not going to be happy if you want to squash their work. You've never, ever, ever spend some time carving a pumpkin ? Or doing something for Nightmare Night ?” she added. “You don't have a lot of fun in your life ...”

[RarityDash]

"Hello, Miss Snow," Fate said to the pony dressed like a cloud. "I"m not sure entirely what you're getting at it. Indeed, I am training to be a knight. And it is Fate, as I just said."

Fate nodded to that pegasus just as the other spoke. She didn't know what to make of it.

"You mean to say you are an actual pirate?" Fate demanded, shocked. "If so, I will not hesitate to bring you to justice for your heinous crimes Whirlwind the Flying Dutchmare!"

Now suspicious of this pony, Fate stood rigid, on guard. She gave a huff, "But as you mention him, the Headless Horse is the very thing that brought me out here. I seek to bring an end to that specter's reign of terror once and for all with my sword!"

Scoffing and glaring at the self-proclaimed pirate, Fate then added. "And since you asked, it happens I spent most of my foalhood on the road with my father, traveling from place to place as he performed his knightly duties... and it was lots of fun!"

[VinylScratch]

Powdered fell down laughing as she heard Fate talking as if the Headless Horse was real. "Yeah right, the Headless Horse is going to come and eat us." she said, sarcastically. "Don't you know that is just an old mare's tale?" she questioned. Something did not seem right with this Fate. She turned to Whirlwind and said "Ahoy, Captain Whirlwind. I offer you safe passage free from any storms!" She giggled, this is a pony she could get along with. Powdered hadn't made many friends since she spent so much time in the factory back in Cloudsdale.

[Ancre]

Whirlwind stared at Ardent Fate, clearly surprised. Did that pony thought their games were for real ? She didn't seemed to have a normal life after all, so maybe she really didn't knew. Either that, or she was really good at pretending – enough to be an actor one day. The pink pony didn't knew wether she should play along or explain the obvious to the knight filly.

But just as Whirlwind kicked off and flew into the skies, seeing Fate becoming tense and aggressive, the other pegasus Powdered Snow fell into laughter at the earth pony's attitude. The pink filly grinned – Fate was acting quite silly, after all ! And Snow's laugh would surely have dissipated any confusion the knight filly might have had.

“Many thanks for your help, Guard of the Clouds !” Whirlwind continued, still pretending to be a pirate. “With no storms menacing my flying ship and my crew, I am free to terrorize helpless ponies and pillage the country !” she fell in a fake evil laughter.

“How would you like to join my crew, Snow ?” she proposed, an idea forming in her head. “And you, Knightly filly ! My loyalty goes to my gold, and yours goes to the Princess, but we both have a common enemy ! Let's unite and search the Headless Horse and defeat him ! He must have untold treasures kept hidden in his lair ! And I'll leave the fame to you, Fate, while me and Snow keep the fortune.” she grinned. Oh, she hoped they'd say yes ! It would be tons of fun !

[RarityDash]

Fate was very confused by what the two of them were saying. Even if The Flying Dutchmare's costume looked a little questionable, she could conceivably believe that pony might be a pirate... or at the very least an apprentice pirate. Wait, did pirate's even have apprentices? Fate's head spun for a long moment as she considered this.

But that was beside the point anyway. Even if she could believe this pony was a pirate as she said, she couldn't believe the other pegasus filly was some cloud guardian. Now that was just silly. This was clearly just a filly in a cheap cloud costume. And yet the pirate filly treated this filly like some great, powerful cloud guardian. Fate wondered if maybe her time at sea had left her a little off in the head. After thinking about it a moment, Fate decided to ignore the comments for now. It wasn't her place to correct the other filly after all.

"Ha! A knight of the holy order teaming up with a common sea dog?" Fate started with a laugh. "Normally I wouldn't even consider such a thing!"

Fate looked down and then gave a quiet nod. "But I could use the assistance. Two swords stand a better chance then one against a menace such as this. If you will it I will fight along side you."

[VinylScratch]

"This Guardian of the Veil would surely join your adventures this Nightmare Night." answered Powdered Snow. New friends in a new town. This could be very fun looking for this mythological beast, even if it was all in their head. Whirlwind seemed pretty entertaining and Ardent, even though she was a little off, was pretty fun too. This could be a pretty fun night with these two ponies.

"Let us find this 'Headless Horse' and teach him a lesson."

[Ancre]

Yes ! The two other ponies agreed to follow Whirlwind on her newfound quest, defeat the evil headless horse ! Ardent Fate still acted a little odd, but that was okay (and sea dog, that was a nice nickname), and Powdered Snow looked like a lot of fun. They were going to spend an awesome night !

The little pink filly waved her fake sword in the air, then pointed at the darkest place of the pumpkin fields. "Ghosts hide in the dark ! And nowhere is it less dark than there ! Let's go, my friends ! There is not a moment to waste !" With that she flew off in the air, making a few loopings, and flying fast in general. She did her best not to lose anypony though. "Come on !" she grinned.

[RarityDash]

"Yes! Let us make haste! We must do away with that foul spirit before it unleashes its brand of terror on any other unfortunate pony it might come across!" Fate started boldly before breaking into a gallop, chasing after the pirate pegasus.

She turned back to the filly in the cloud costume, Powdered Snow. "Stay close to me if you're frightened," she said with a nod. She still wasn't convinced this pony was some "Guardian of the Veil" whatever that made, no matter what her or the young pirate believed. This was going to be dangerous too, so Fate was going to have to keep an eye on the normal filly.

[VinylScratch]

Powdered cheered at Whirlwind's glee. Ardent Fate told her to stick close if she's scared. However, Ardent said this a little too seriously for her enthusiasm to go unwavering. Snow remembered how the filly acted when they started talking. Perhaps this was the way she acted since she hadn't socialized almost at all during her years. Still, it seemed strange to her. She skulked over, trying not to offend Ardent with neglect or make her feel weird, to Whirlwind. "Where is this monster, Captain?" she asked

[Ancre]

"Where is this monster, indeed !" Whirlwind suddenly stopped her flight, turning back toward the two other ponies, and floating toward them with a big, evil grin on her face.

"He hides in the darkest parts of the night, in fields and forests ..." She started. The spot was a good spot for ghost stories. No lights but the stars. No sounds but the faint howling of the wind. And they were surrounded by pumpkins. In the darkness, even uncarved pumpkins smiled.

"And ponies says that every night, you can see a headless horse walking in those pumpkin fields, looking for something. He's only a shadow, most nights, except for this one."

She continued her story, slowly coming closer to Powdered Snow, which looked like the easiest to scare. "Some legends says he's a rejected lover killed by his loved one, and that on every nightmare night, he brings a pony with him back into pony hell to be his bride. Others says he's a soldier, from a long forgotten battle, a very brutal and bloody one, against griffins, and that he haunts his ancient battleground to slay another foe before going back to the dead again. But most stories says ..."

This was it. Whirlwind was having a lot of fun trying to scare the little filly, and had brought herself closer to Powdered Snow while talking. And now was the best moment ! Next to the little pony now, the pink pegasus took on a terrified face and, suddenly, abruptly cutting her story, screamed in fake fear :

" ... that HE'S RIGHT BEHING YOU SWEET CELESTIA HE'S THERE !!!"