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A Nightmare Night with Starlight

By Glimbrain
Created: 2023-10-31 08:33:17
Expiry: Never

anon starlight glimmer slice of life safe nightmare night

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Synopsis: Anon goes trick-or-treating with the Glimmy.
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>It's a spooktacular Nightmare Night, and you are out trick-or-treating with Starlight.
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>Dressed up as a mighty magus, you command authority—despite not actually knowing any magic.
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>Starlight is a scarecrow, or at least—she was; you two got separated in the middle of an impromptu Pinkie Pie spooky sing-a-long.
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>Wandering through Ponyville, you ask nearby ponies if they've seen her.
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>The next pony in your line of sight is a mare with a silver coat and mane, she's wearing similarly-coloured metallic armour that covers her body, and has a pointy metal hat on her head.
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>She's facing away from you; you move in to question her, as it looks like she's just finished a round of trick-or-treating.
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"Hey there! Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Starlight Glimmer around here? Lilac coat, unicorn, dressed up as a scarecrow?"
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>"Ah!"
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>Sharply pivoting around to face you, she stares up at you with a startled expression, blinking a few times.
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>"N-nope, haven't seen her, sorry Anon!"
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"Well, I tried, thanks any—wait a minute."
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>That voice! Those persian blue eyes!
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"Starlight, is—is that *you* in that armour?"
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>"U-um…"
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>You two stare each other down for several seconds.
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>"…Oh, alright. Yes, it's me."
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"What happened to your scarecrow costume?"
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>"I…I just felt like switching it up! Yeah! Really gotta keep Ponyville on their hooves, ahaha!"
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"You 'switched it up' pretty quickly. It's only been like 10 minutes. You even dyed your mane and coat!"
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>She holds a nervous grin.
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"But I guess with your magic, anything's possible."
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>"Y-yep! I used magic to help switch my costume! That's right, just changing my costume, and absolutely nothing else!"
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>Your internal sus-o-meter is going off, causing you to raise an eyebrow.
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"Okay… But why were you hiding from me? Seems like you didn't want me to find you."
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>"No! I wasn't hiding from you—well I mean I *kinda* was but not in an 'avoiding you' kind of way, more like a 'let's surprise Anon' kind of way, you know?"
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"Well, the costume change certainly surprised me but—"
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>"There you are, Anon! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
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>Starlight walks up to your side from behind—Starlight in a scarecrow costume, that is.
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"Uh…"
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>"And—oh." She notices the Tin Mare next to you.
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>"…Yeah, he knows something's up now."
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>"Whoops."
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"Is this another one of your duplication spells?"
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>Scarelight nods at you, proudly beaming.
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>"Yeah! I was able to perfect a spell that partitions my mind! So I combined it with Similo to split my consciousness among three bodies!"
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>Tin Mare glowers at Scarelight; the scarecrow glances back, tilting her head in response.
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>"What? What did I say?"
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"There's a third one of you?"
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>The silver Starlight rubs her head with a forehoof.
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>"…Note to self, it is *really* hard keeping secrets when your consciousness is split."
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>A Scarecrow and a Tin Mare…
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"Let me guess, the third Starlight is dressed up as a—"
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>"Roar! Rar! Give me your candy or pay the price!"
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>A familiar-looking lilac unicorn in a lion costume conveniently leaps out of a nearby bush; you've long since stopped questioning how Equestria consistently presents the most perfectly placed of comedic timings.
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>She trots on by, glancing at the three of you.
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>"Hi Anon! Hi Me! Hi other Me!"
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>She stops.
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>"Oh."
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>The other two chime in with a simultaneous "yep."
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"…So, why did you triplicate yourself?"
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>All three speak at once, "WwWeEeELlLlLl AaAnNnOoOnNn, sSsIiInNnCcCeEe—"
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"Oh God! I only have two eardrums, Starlight!"
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>They all grin sheepishly, and the Tin Mare speaks up.
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>"Sorry Anon! Um—what I meant to say was—since we only have so much time in one Nightmare Night to gather candy by ourselves, I thought to myself—'Hey, Starlight! You've got magic, what if you used it to split your workload more efficiently?' Then it came to me: multiple bodies—multiple trick-or-treaters!"
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>Starlion struts about in place, showing off her outfit.
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>"And the best thing is, since we're all in different costumes, nopony will recognise us! Each of us could visit the same house in the same night without anypony suspecting a thing!"
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>Scarelight hops into the air excitedly.
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>"It's the perfect plan! Three Starlights—three hauls of candy! Starlights, you're geniuses! You think so too, right Anon?"
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>They all look up at you for approval; sadly, all you can do is shake your head.
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"Glimmy, I know you love your magic, but Nightmare Night isn't about efficiency, it's about…"
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>Pausing, you think to yourself.
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"Actually, I have no clue what it's about. Respecting Moonbutt? Capitalism?
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"Anyway, the point is—it's not about how much candy you can get. It's about having fun with your buds, getting spooked, and trying to win in those rigged-as-hell carnival games.
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"And it's a bit harder to appreciate all that when you've cut your brain up into three chunks.
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"…Plus, I did want to spend Nightmare Night with the *whole* Starlight, not just a third of her."
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>The Starlights all exchange a look of guilt with one another.
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>"Oh… Well, when you put it like that, I can see where you're coming from. Sorry, Anon."
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>It's at this moment that you take the opportunity to look at the bags each Starlight is holding; they're all near-bursting with confections.
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"…On the other hand, that…that is a *lot* of candy."
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>Your mouth waters.
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>Noticing this, they all smirk at you, Scarelight chides you in a teasing tone.
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>"But didn't you *just* say that it's not about how much candy we get? It isn't right for us to have all this."
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>Tin Mare nods.
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>"I agree. I think we should get rid of two thirds of our candy, it's only fair, after all."
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"Two third—H-hey now! Let's not do anything drastic here! What's done is done, right? You already got the candy, and you're all here now! No harm, no foul!
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"I—I mean, the three of you are still separate, yeah? Plenty of room for all that candy!"
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>Rubbing her chin with her forehoof, the Tin Mare contemplates your words.
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>"Hmm—well, you do raise a good point… But what does everypony else think?"
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>Yawning to herself, Starlion lies down on the ground, still levitating her bag of candy.
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>"Mmm, I don't know about you girls, but all of this trick-or-treating has left me kind of tired. If *only* there was a big strong wizard around to carry me back to the castle."
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>She looks up at you with a lazy smirk.
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"Alright… Fine."
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>Kneeling down, you pick up the fake feline with both arms, cradling her against your chest; you swear you hear her purr in response.
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>"I call shotgun!" Scarelight levitates herself behind you and latches onto your back; her head rests on your shoulder, nuzzling against your cheek.
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>As you bear the weight of two Starlights, you hear a clanging sound near your feet as a metal hoof gingerly prods your left leg.
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>Looking down, you see the Tin Mare looking up at you with a hopeful smile from within her full set of metal armour.
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"Don't even think about it."
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>She sighs.
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>"Fiiiine. I'll walk, but you are *so* making it up to me later."
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>Scarelight points out a forehoof towards the Castle of Friendship.
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>"To the castle, everypony! There's candy to be consumed!"
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>You sally forth down the brown dirt road with your mares—mare? Mare*3? Ah, who cares.
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>A blue alicorn watches the four of you leave, her mouth agape in shock.
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>"The fun has been tripled…!"