Night 1 Discord's Everfree Adventure

[Manestream]

Discord's Everfree Adventure

Be sure to keep to the path dimly lit by the luminary bags. If you stay in the light, none of the forest creatures will harm you. On the night when you should most fear the Everfree Forest, a spell will keep you safe—so long as you keep to the path ahead!

However, you may still catch a glimpse of a Manticore, or perhaps somepony bold enough to leave the trail may leap out of the trees and scare you! Whatever the case, there is no going back—as another spell darkens the path behind you, forcing you to follow the light ahead. But the further you walk, the further you feel you are going into Everfree. To travel back, you must reach the end!

[Mojo]

And now, Haywire enters the fray:

"I ain't a-feared of nutin'!" shouted Haywire, the country pony filly who is widely known for her mischief making. She wore a white sheet over her small frame, a sheet that hid her REAL costume, a bright red devil suit with horns she had sewn herself weeks ago. Her plan was simple, to lull unsuspecting ponies into thinking she was just a lame ghost character until she would remove the sheet and SCREAM like a demon, scaring the living daylights out of the ponies or ponies in question. Haywire was quite satisfied with her 'performance' so far this Nightmare Night. She had frightened poor Granny Smith so bad, the old gray mare ran away (VERY SLOWLY) in sheer terror! Now she felt she was up to the challenge of the Everfree Forest. She was too young to be afraid of the unseen dangers of the forest, and on this night of pranks and candy, she really didn't care.

"Betcha thar's some silly adult ponies dressed up on this lighted trail who wanna try to scare us foals! Tain't gonna work cause Haywire's the bravest little pony in all of Equestria!"

Haywire's 'courage' began to falter as she slowly walked the dimly lit path. Every strange sound, every odd noise kept the little rust colored filly on edge as she walked. Her pride wouldn't allow her to turn back, she was going to see this thing through... alive... she ... hoped....

[Willow Whisper]

Willow Whisper was glad to be home. Her business trip to Fillydelphia had been both successful and fun, but she would never miss one of Ponyville's most famous and candy-filled holidays! The stout unicorn mare lived in a cottage at the edge of Everfree, and was more comfortable in the forest than most city ponies. However tonight, maybe it was just the chill in the are or the holiday itself, but the surrounding trees and foliage seemed positively spooky. She shivered as she trotted through the thick foliage, and lit her way through the darkness with the dark eerie green glow surrounding her horn. The spell had a peculiar effect with her grinning crocodile costume, making it look as though the scaley beast had its mouth agape and full of green flame. She was looking for Discord's path, but the trees seemed to swallow up any light other than her own. The large mare quickened her pace, only a little, sure that she would see the path any moment now.

"Heh, maybe I shouldn't have taken this shortcut..." She murmured quietly in her deep voice, and her normally half-lidded sleepy eyes were growing wider and wider with alarm. She, perhaps unwisely, wasn't truly afraid of Everfree, but what she was afraid of was something that was said visited Equestria on this night, and especially Everfree. Ghosts. Willow Whisper felt her hair coat stand on end underneath her costume, and something snapped a branch off to her right. She whinnied, reared up on her hind legs, and pawed the air with her broad clydesdale hooves before taking off forward in blind gallop. The desperate move payed off as soon she saw glowing lights ahead, surely somepony on the Discord trail, and she headed toward the light in the dark gratefully.

That was how, in a charging crash of broken branches, and an eerie green glow, a large pony sized crocodile with an open mouthful of green light burst out onto the path infront of Haywire. The unicorn paused where she was, legs shaking, and took a deep breath. She turned her head to look at the pony that had saved her simply by lighting the path, meaning to thank them. It was a ghost. Willow Whisper gave a whinnying shout of fear, and turned to try and flee away from the tiny apparition down the lantern-lit path. Yet somehow she got the long scaly tail of her costume tangled around her hooves, and she tripped and sprawled crocodile mask first in the loamy dirt.

[Mojo]

"I ain't scared, I ain't scared," Haywire muttered repeatedly with each step forward she took, taking a long, nervous gulp as she proceeded. Suddenly, the white sheet covered filly heard noises in the bushes that startled her. Frozen in fear, Haywire didn't move an inch as Willow Whisper tumbled into view. At first, the rust colored foal screamed out, but then, took a closer look at the mare who was now on the lighted path.

"Oh, yur on this here trail too," Haywire neighed with a note of relief in her voice. "Let me help ya up, friend. The name's Haywire, glad to meetcha!"

[RarityDash]

Spirit Flame slowly travelled through the Everfree Forest, her path illuminated only by the moonlight. The haunting wood was at once familiar to her. She had lived here most of her life. Really, it was still probably closer to being a home to her than Fillydelphia was. Memories. She had many of this place. Pleasant memories of her time with the mother manticore who raised her, terrible memories of fighting for her life. The bad outweighed the good. She hadn't seen the forest in years, yet it was hardly a place one would ever feel nostalgic for.

Mister Gray, Spirit's caretaker, had taken here to this town near the forest, Ponyville for Nightmare Night. While the festivities of Fillydelphia's own Harvest Spook-Tacular were not to be sold short, he claimed that Ponyville was the place to be on Nightmare Night. He insisted Spirit venture off on this "Trick or Treat" game, claiming it would be fun. Spirit didn't really understand. More than anything, it just confused her, especially when he had pointed her toward the very same forest he had rescued Spirit from not too long ago.

Mister Gray's unusual behavior hadn't stopped there. He had used some unusual unicorn magic to temporarily alter Spirit's appearance. The spell had made Spirit's body translucent and her mane bright and glowing, while her eyes became solid white. The old unicorn had called it "the perfect costume". Again, Spirit really didn't understand.

To keep herself safe, Spirit was using one of her white fire spells. She had enveloped herself in a large white flame. It didn't burn her or anything else. It was mostly just a trick she had used during her time in this forest to keep the predators from approaching her. Mister Gray had insisted the forest was safe tonight if Spirit followed the path laid out. Spirit didn't understand this either. Her time in the forest had been enough to tell her that the Everfree was too powerful to be controlled like that. She didn't stick to any path. She made her own way through the woods, only crossing the trail on occasion.

Coming out from the unlit darkness of the Everfree, Spirit's eyes fell on the lit path. She noticed two ponies there. One was a green unicorn mare with a kind of unusual mane that went in her face. The other was a very little pony that was wearing a white sheet for some reason Spirit did not understand. They both looked a little scared or on edge for some reason. Maybe Spirit could help them?

That decided, Spirit, with her translucent purple body, glowing white hair, blank glowing white eyes and body covered in white flames approached the two ponies at a slow pace from out of total darkness.

"Umm... hello..." she said in quiet voice to get their attention.

[Mojo]

As she helped Willow Whisper to her feet, Haywire spotted Spirit Flame approaching in her very scary 'costume'. For a split second, the little filly thought of screaming and running away in terror, but when the newcomer spoke, she realized that this was just another filly all dressed up for the occasion.

"Whoa! That is one fancy costume ya got thar, friend! Betcha spent weeks a-workin on it! I'm Haywire, by the way. This here Everfree Forest's a real spooky place! Nice place to visit, but I'm sure glad I don't live here!"

[Inkwell]

"Heh. I suppose I could say the same," Rose responded. "Oops. Ah well, I was tired of hiding anyway."

The faux-werewolf stepped out of the shadows and dispelled the dimming spell she'd kept on her since she entered the forest. It seemed like the spookiest place she could go into that night, and besides, that Haywire filly she met earlier went in there earlier with the sort of confidence that only the very young could muster. Rose remembered when she was like that, and some of the scrapes she'd gotten into as a result. They weren't anything serious, but still, Rose felt like maybe she should probably make sure Haywire made it through the forest alright.

"Heya, squirt. Having a spooooky Nightmare Night?" she asked, waving her false front paws in front of her face like a corny campfire storyteller.

Then her eyes turned over to the other filly next to her and jumped a bit. "Gah!" This one was wreathed in an unearthly white flame, but soon Rose could tell that it was a "costume", if it could be called that. Spirit Fire was definitely "cheating" by Rose's definition, using magic like that. "Nice spell. I could use one of those," she commented. "How's your Nightmare Night going?"

[Mojo]

"Hay! Who are YOU callin' a squirt?" Haywire neighed as she spun around, then realized who was doing the talking. "Oh, it's you Rose! Nice to see ya agin'. I don't really see why they call this here trail SPOOKY fer! Been here a while and aside from my new friends here, ain't nutin' spooky goin' on at'all!"

Haywire began to pace, her little legs moving along beneath the white sheet she wore over her red devil outfit.

"I'm gittin' sick'n tired of this!" the filly neighed as she jumped up on a tree stump and faced into the darkness of the forest.

"HAY OUT THAR IN FORESTLAND! YA AIN'T SO BIG AND SCARY! WE'RE BORED HERE! GIVE US YUR BEST SHOT, CRAZY FOREST!"

[RarityDash]

The filly wearing the sheet spoke to Spirit, introducing herself as Haywire. Before Spirit could respond, another life form emerged from hiding and spoke. It looked to be some sort of wolf. Just as Spirit was about to scare it with her flame magic, she remembered that wolves couldn't speak pony language. Eventually she realized this was just another pony, but wearing a costume.

"I don't like this forest," Spirit said in response to this pony asking her how her night was. "It brings back memories... most of which I'd rather forget..."

The filly in the sheet then shouted out into the darkness. "I wouldn't do that..." Spirit said. "This forest... it's more powerful... more dangerous than you think... no pony is truly safe here... even with the enchantment on this trail..."

[Willow Whisper]

Willow Whisper had quickly realized after her fall that the ghost was really just a little filly in a Nightmare Night costume. Blushing and laughing, she gladly accepted the little ponies help, despite being much taller and heavier. Here was a much younger pony, so much braver than she was. "Haywire, huh? I must have been a little haywire myself..." She gasped through her deep laughter, and lifted a hoof to her broad chest to feel the slowing beat of her heart. "Oh mare. I never knew a bedsheet could be so scary."

The unicorn mare perked her head as two more ponies arrived in short succession. A mysterious looking pony wreathed in white flame, which was both a very impressive spell and costume. The other was dressed as a werewolf, also an awesome costume. "Hey. Nice to meet you mares. I'm Willow Whisper." She smiled, glad for as much company as possible on this most spooky of nights.

"I love Everfree. So many trees." The mare said, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the smell of the plants and night flowers. "It's dangerous, yeah, but if we stick together, most of the other creatures that live here shouldn't bother us. Easier to eat a single pony than four, right?" She grinned, and turned to gaze out into the forest in the direction Haywire shouted. "It's all about confidence..." The unicorn seemed to either have completely forgotten her scare earlier, or was tactfully choosing not to bring it up.

[Manestream]

With a loud whicker of delighted victory, Nightmare Moon appears in a puff of blue and black smoke !

IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON! RUUUUNNNN! Oh no! As you were fleeing in terror, it looks like you lost a piece of candy!

[Willow Whisper]

"Confidence is overrated! Run for your lives!" Willow Whisper whinnied in surprise and not entirely unjustified terror at the sudden appearance of the mythical mare. The unicorn mare scrambled clumsily away from the frightful apparition, and galloped with her stuffed crocodile tail flailing behind her, further along the lanterned path into Everfree forest.

[RarityDash]

"Gah!" Spirit started as the black alicorn. Ponies around her began to run. Her reaction to danger in this woods had always been to fight rather than run. Escaping danger in the Everfree was was impossible. It was better to make your enemy run instead.

With that, Spirit threw some of her powerful fire at the alicorn. It didn't seem to have any effect and the alicorn kept running past her. Spirit wondered if this was a real pony at all. Unsure, she decided to explore the forest some more.

[QuickLime]

Cashmere dressed to the 9's in a costume trotted the path without fear of the ghosts or the spooks, staying well within the illuminated pathway . Head held high as he kept going forward, glancing to the side to look at the interesting creatures that abounded in the forest always curious about them but not bold enough to get a closer look.

There came the sounds of screams as the ponies fled from the illusion but Cashmere merely chuckled, he had done lots of Nightmare Nights and knew nothing could truly hurt you ! He continued his walk humming "Giggle at the Ghosties" as he went

[Mojo]

"NIGHTMARE MOON! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Haywire shouted, trying to gallop away as fast as her little legs could carry her. When she glanced back to see if the scary alicorn was following her, she tripped on her long white sheet costume and began to roll forward. The poor filly gained speed as she rolled downhill on the path back into Ponyville. The screaming out of control Haywire knocked down a huge crowd of gathered adults like bowling pins as the white sheet covered filly continued rolling through town. Finally, Haywire's high speed rolling ended when she struck a rock and landed in the apple bobbing tank with a loud KER-SPLASH. The dizzy, wet filly slowly climbed out of the tank, landed her four hooves on the ground and began to shake herself dry.

"Now, what was I doin' agin'? Oh yeah, running from Nightmare Moon, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Haywire screamed all the way to her next stop.... Pinkie Pie's Funhouse.