Night in the Woods

Story

Nightmare Night, the scariest night of the year, is finally here and Sandbar, excited to show his friends the celebration and its traditions, suggested to go out as a group that night to experience all of it. Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream and Sandbar are waiting outside of the dorms for their last two friends to arrive.
"Where are they? The moon is already out and we wanted to go before that even happens", Sandbar criticizes his friends' tardiness but quickly the topic changes due to his little observation.
"Oh! The moon is so big and bright tonight! So pretty!", Silverstream shouts as she rises to the air and points at the moon, which glows in all of its glory.
"A full moon... Interesting", the Changeling mumbles to herself but Yona drowns her out with her own loud voice.
"Smolder here! Smolder! Hi!"
"Hey, soooo... Gallus ain't coming."
"What?!", the remaining four ask at the same time, looking at her with shock on their faces.
"Yeah, I saw him coming out of the nurse's office today and he said that he was feeling sick. But we should not worry and just enjoy the night, at least that's what he said."
"Poor Gallus", the hippogriff, who immediately landed upon hearing the news, mopes and the rest of the group follow suit.
They stay silent for a bit until Sandbar decides to respect the griffon's wish and still go through with their plan.

"Come on guys! Gallus wants us to have fun and we will do exactly that! Okay... I meant to ask that from the start but I waited for everyone to show up so... What exactly are you guys dressed as?"
"I am a big spider! A yak spider. Yak spiders are the scariest", Yona exclaims as she shakes her body and, with that, the four additional furry legs connected to it.
"I am an anglerfish. Look at my little light!"
Silverstream, who takes to the sky again, pokes against a little bulb hanging in front of her face. That bulb is connected to a wire , which is connected to another wire which she wears like a floral wreath on her head. She presses a little button at the bulb's base, which causes the bulb to switch between different modes. It starts with a normal glow, followed by blinking, dimming and finally nothing,
"But you are flying", Smolder interposes but apparently Silverstream does not really understand what she is getting at.
"So?"
"Fishes do not fly."
"Oh riiiiight...", the hippogriff finally realizes and she begins to think but quickly comes up with a good solution.
She turns the crown around, which moves the bulb behind her head, and with a joyful expression announces her new costume.
"Now I'm a firefly!"
"... Actually not bad. I'm impressed", the dragon admits, giving her friend a thumbs up.
"Good idea Silver. And what are you dressed as, Smolder?"
"I'm a dragon... Isn't that scary enough?"
"Well...", the pony thinks for a bit, not really knowing what to say to that.
A small part of him expected Smolder to not dress up but other rest really wanted to see what costume she would come up with... Looks like the minority was right here.
"S...Sure! What's scarier than a dragon after all?"
"Exactly. Next!", Smolder immediately tries to draw attention away from herself, which makes Ocellus the new target, "What about you, Ocellus? What are you suppose to be?"
"I... I don't really know... The thing is, I can be whatever I want to be but I don't know if that counts as a costume..."
"Sure! Everything can be a costume. Just be creative and think about it."
"Hmmm... Ah! I have an idea!"
Ocellus turns around and runs back into the dorms, just to return after a minute or so.
"Tada! What do you guys think?"
She is now wearing her costume from the play they once put on for Celestia's "ones-versary". It is still messed up and patches are covering some of the tears in the purple fabric. The tip of the horn is completely missing.
The four friends stare at her, confused at what she is supposed to be and neither of them is brave enough to make a guess.
"I'm a badly hurt pony. There is nothing worse than someone who got hurt, right"
"Oh yes!"
"Ah now I see it."
"Makes sense."
"Yona loves idea!"
They all praise Ocellus idea, which causes her to smile sweetly at them.
"Sandbar, tell us something about your costume", the Changeling asks her friend, a request he has just been waiting for.
"I am Count Ponlock, one of, if not,the most famous, or should I say, infamous, vampires to ever haunt Equestria! He tyrannized countless of villages and still is the reason for many nightmares. One day, he just disappeared but some say he is still out there, recovering and preparing to strike and spread fear all over again."
The others stare at him with wide eyes, trying their best to understand any of the things he just said.
"Simpler said, I am a vampony", the pony tries to simplify his explanation, which seems to be helping because the others are finally commenting on his outfit.
"Wow! That's really cool!"
"Cool cape and those fangs looks so intimidating. The fake blood makes it look even more dangerous!"
"Not a bad costume, Sandbar."
"Yona loves idea!"
Sandbar blushes and rubs the back of his head, ruffling his straight mane a bit which returns some of its usual fluffiness.
"Thanks guys but, to be honest, those fangs are really uncomfortable to wear. I'll just keep them in my pocket until I need them. Anyway, we should better get going. There is a ton of stuff I need to show you so be prepared for the scariest night of your lives!"
The group leaves their school behind and head for Town Hall, the place where their adventure officially begins.