The Demon Queen's Reluctant Return

 

Sunset rolled her eyes yet again at Applejack's confused glances, trying to take her seriously in her silly wolf getup. "Yes, Applejack, it's fine."

 

"And you don't think that's gonna send the wrong impression?" Applejack shoots back between pawing at one of her drooping ears.

 

Sunset let out a frustrated huff and flips some of her devilishly-styled hair off of her shoulder. "It's supposed to send the impression that it's in the past now and we can joke about it, I guess."

 

"Oh, leave her alone, Applejack. I worked quite hard on her outfit and I daresay she looks quite fetching in it, Much more fetching than the played-out vampire costume we were initially considering," Rarity added, giving a quick wave of her witch's broom, careful not to knock her hat off.

 

"It is a little... weird, but it'd really only be a problem if Sunset wasn't cool with it. Don't think anyone really cares that much anymore, AJ," Rainbow said through her ill-fitting football helmet.

 

Applejack gave the girls a weak shrug and looked into the night sky. "If y'all say so. Just might be a bit soon, is all."

 

"Oh come now, as soon as Sunset, Fluttershy, and I walk through those doors we're going to be the center of attention," Rarity said, gesturing over to the fine fabric adorning Fluttershy's figure, flowing off of her in white strips like a phantom floating over a lake.

 

"Hey, what about our costumes?" Rainbow shot back, gripping her football even tighter against her pads.

 

"Yeah! What's wrong with our costumes?" Pinkie finally interjects, bouncing in front of the girls and causing the massive cloth cupcake hanging off of her shoulders to generously jiggle.

 

Rarity's face scrunches up as it slowly eases towards a cringe. "Ugh, well a football player is a bit garish, Dash, and I'm not sure if you're going to be able to make it through the front door with that thing, Pinkie."

 

"What? Of course I will, silly. The Cupcakestume can deflate for use in tight spaces, see?" Pinkie proclaims proudly, yanking a cord behind her back and letting all the air whoosh out of her costume until she's wearing nothing but a puffy, sprinkled dress. "It can quickly inflate for any occasion." Before anyone could say anything, Pinkie had taken a breath bigger than anyone would've thought could fit in a girl her size and blew it out so intensely all of the girls had to raise a forearm and take a step back to avoid the spit-spatter.

 

"...Right, well Amythest's house is right around the corner, so let's just get to the party, shall we?"

 

"Sounds good to me," Sunset said, making one final adjustment to the leather wings hanging off of her back. "You'll see, Applejack. It's not like anyone's gonna freak out or anything," she said with a nonchalant handwave.

 

The last rays of the Halloween sun had left a while ago, but the streets were still bustling with dozens of kids running to every possible house they could for candy. The excited suburbs almost saw them lose Pinkie to the hoard of trick-or-treaters a handful of times, but finally, the girls managed to find the right house to unleash their costumes onto their peers. Rarity was already bouncing with glee as they all strolled up to the front door, but a sudden sinking feeling struck Sunset's stomach as Applejack looked up into the sky with some uncertainty.

 

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Rarity said, her shaking as she held them close to her face. "We might even get a spot in the school paper for these dazzling costumes."

 

Applejack gave her a raised eyebrow and gave the door a few loud knocks, her eyes still trained on her giddy friend with a tired expression. The door opened for them to reveal the sea of kids laughing and drinking punch out of their solo cups alongside handfuls of candy and pastries. Twilight stood at the door in her best scientist outfit, which admittedly wasn't too far off of her usual look.

 

Twilight gave them all a relieved smile. "Oh hey, guys. I was wondering when you'd finally make it. Things were getting kind of awkward without you here. Come on in," she said with a wave of her hand.

 

Pinkie perked up and shot to the front of the group, her nose up in the air like a bloodhound. "Is that... candy corn... cupcakes!?" she said, her voice rising and her eyes lighting up.

 

"Oh... uh," Twilight started. "Yeah, I think that—woah!"

 

With a mighty whoosh, Pinkie did her best to rush in, almost sending Twilight flying back. Thankfully for the mock scientist and everyone standing behind her, Pinkie's oversized costume did indeed prevent her from making it past the front door. A quick giggle later, Pinkie found the ripcord yet again. "Oh, right."

 

After another comical deflation, all the girls sauntered in after Pinkie disappeared into the crowd after the snack table. Rarity set herself up in the doorway, lifting a hand up to her chin and setting herself up in a pose, her eyes seemingly scanning the crowd for adoring gazes. Sunset followed in behind the rest of the girls, giving a light roll of her eyes to Rarity's antics; there's no way they were going to get her desired runway reaction.

 

...or were they? Sunset's casual amusement turned into bewilderment as the constant chatter of her peers suddenly died out, leaving nothing but the cheesy Halloween music playing. Her eyes grazed across all of the kids with a raised eyebrow as they stared back, a mix of shock and fear plastered on their faces. She glanced between Rarity and Fluttershy, checking to make sure she didn't miss some extravagant feature that would elicit all this, but when she looked back she realized none of the terrified eyes were looking at either of them—they were all on her.

 

Sunset's mouth hung open for a moment. She looked down to her own costume, then back up to the crowd. Before she could get anything out, Snips jumped out to point a horrified expression at her. "The demon's returned! She's gonna enslave us all!"

 

"Not again!" Snails added as he threw his drink into the air and started flailing his arms wildly, pushing people aside to get to the back door as soon as possible. Before his punch even hit the floor, dozens of other students started panicking and scattered. The horrified screams were accompanied by occasional crashes of glass and the thud of those too eager to make their escape.

 

"Wait! I'm not—" Sunset tried to reach out to start her plea, but the action only made her fellow students even more terrified. As much as she tried to protest, she couldn't even hear herself over the high-pitched screams.

 

"I don't want to be a zombie again!" one student yelled.

 

"She's gonna start shooting fireballs!"

 

"Save the candy!"

 

Sunset let out a disappointed sigh as her shoulders drooped at the sight. She could only helplessly watch as all her classmates threw themselves over the fence in the backyard. As the last of them sprinted out, she spotted Pinkie frantically stuffing her face with treats with one hand and scavenging up a horde of them into her dress with the other.

 

"Ah! You're not gonna get me!" Pinkie screamed as she ran out the door as well.

 

Sunset let out a frustrated grunt. "Pinkie! We came here together!" but it was no use. Before they knew it Pinkie hat reinflated her costume and was bouncing over the fence as well.

 

"Uuuugggh." Sunset could only slump down into a nearby chair and let her horned head settle into her hands.

 

Twilight put a comforting hand on Sunset's shoulder as she surveyed the disaster left behind. "Well, that was an, uh... interesting response."

 

Rarity cleared her throat before attempting to speak through her wince. "So... perhaps I was a bit... [i]too[/i] detailed with yours, dear."

 

"Or maybe this might not'a been the best choice," Applejack chimed in.

 

Fluttershy leaned in, putting on her best reassuring smile. "Maybe they're just pulling a prank?"

 

Rainbow pointed the football in her hand over to the corner. "That's one expensive prank." The punch-soaked TV drenching the fireplace overpowered the music just to reinforce her point. To add to it even further, a haphazardly placed dish finally tipped itself off of the table, shattering into a thousand pieces to top off the event.

 

Sunset sank deeper into her chair. "Uuuuuaaauuughh."

 

Twilight pursed her lips. "Well, maybe they'll calm down and come back. It's not like you actually started shooting fireballs or anything."

 

Sunset leaned forward again, her expression exhausted and her voice deadpan. "I don't know. Someone probably started a fire in the kitchen too. Gotta round it all out."

 

Applejack sniffed the air a few times. "Now that you mention it... it does smell like someone left something in the oven too long."

 

A defeated sigh left Sunset's lips as Applejack went to investigate. She put her head in her hands again, desperately wishing she'd just gone with the vampire costume.

 

"Hey, look on the bright side," Rainbow said. "More candy for us." Dash's excitement dwindled as she picked up a few punch-soaked napkins off of the snacks. "Well, some of it's still good I think... hopefully."

 

As Rainbow poked around the food, Applejack walked back in while pulling an oven mitt off of her paw. "Alright, so good news. No fires started even though someone did end up leaving some cheese in the microwave for way longer than it needed to be. Don't know who microwaves things for twenty minutes, but looks like it wasn't enough smoke to—"

 

Before she could finish, a piercing screech made every single girl wince as it blared through the entire house. "Set off the alarm..." Applejack finally finished.

 

Sunset shook her head and planted her face back into her hands. As the acrid odor filled the house and the intense sounds scratched at her eardrums, Sunset silently reassured herself that it probably couldn't get much worse than this at least.

 

[hr]

 

A slight smile finally crept over Sunset's face. With the taste of chocolate-covered cherries on her lips and another treat soon to arrive, the disappointment of the night was slowly fading.

 

"I mean if we're voting for best costume tomorrow, they really can't not vote for you," Rainbow said before popping another piece of chocolate into her mouth as she stretched out on the floor. Her football pads served as her pillow while Fluttershy sat on a real pillow beside her.

 

"Y'all really think this is something that needs going in the yearbook?" Applejack added.

 

"Why, it better!" Rarity interjected. "After as much trouble as everyone put us through, my design deserves some actual recognition."

 

Sunset bit off another section of chocolate. "It's probably going to be a funny memory to look back on, as long as the cops don't show up."

 

Twilight rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, it's not like you'd get arrested for freaking out a bunch of teenagers. The police have more important things to—"

 

A harsh series of knocks filled the quiet living room, causing all the girls to jump and trade glances as they all imagined their potential police standoff. Sunset let out a sigh and got up off of the couch to accept her fate. "I'll get it..."

 

The girls wordlessly followed to support their friend, fearfully peeking over her shoulder as Sunset twisted the knob. "Look, officer, I... Snips? Snails?" Sunset asked as she looked down at the trembling pair.

 

"Oh no..." Snails whispered. "S-s-she's already got minions."

 

Sunset looked back and couldn't help but let out a sigh at the unfortunate formation of her friends behind her. "Look, guys, I'm not—woah..."

 

Once Sunset looked up from the pair, she saw a crowd of people cowering in fear behind them, each holding a pretty chunky bag in their hands. In the yard around them there were wheelbarrows and wagons, each overflowing with colorful wrappers. Sunset gazed in amazement until her eyes landed on one of the red wagons which held a pair of boys tied up and gagged, both whimpering in fear.

 

Gasps echoed from behind her as it was finally Sunset's turn to stare in horror. Snips and Snails both fell to their knees and started bowing before Sunset could even manage to do anything.

 

"Oh, great demon queen. We have brought you many offerings in hopes that you might spare our poor, pathetic lives."

 

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a frustrated growl. "Guys, I'm not a—"

 

The boys and the crowd both recoiled in fear as Sunset raised her voice. "Oh no! She's not pleased with the offerings! We must capture more students for the army!"

 

"No!" Sunset screamed, earning another wince from the crowd. "I mean... no, don't do that."

 

Sunset turned her head for some sort of guidance from her friends, but they all just gave her a confused shrug.

 

"Okay... uh, your queen is pleased the offerings of the... candy," Sunset said, doing her best to put on a regal, commanding tone. "I am not pleased with the human sacrifice. Let them go at once!" With one hand on her hip and the other pointing in the air, Sunset struck a mighty pose.

 

"But what of your army, your majesty?" Snips asked, still trembling on his knees.

 

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I don't need a—ergh." With each break of character, the crowd cowered even more. "Go out and tell everyone trick-or-treating to come to me. I will handle my army."

 

"But then how will we bring you more offerings, my queen. We dare not anger you with nothing," Snails chimed in.

 

Sunset dragged a weary hand across her face. "I don't know. Half of you tell people to come here and half of you go trick-or-treating as normal for candy or something."

 

The students all exchanged fearful nods and clenched their fists together. The intense seriousness on their faces made thoughts of all the other horrors the night would have in store if she sent them off now. "Wait! You, uh... you can't let anyone know that anything has changed. You must act completely normal and ask for candy like you normally would. Or else, uh... my recruitment powers won't work! Yeah... anyone that does anything wrong or draws unwanted attention will be punished, [i]severely[/i]."

 

"Yes, my queen, we will get on it right away," Snips said as the pair bowed before them. They exchanged nods between each other and then turned to the crowd. "You heard her, everyone! Offerings! Tell everyone! Go!"

 

Rarity bumped her way through Sunset to face the crowd, exchanging an apologetic glance with her friend before putting her hand up in the air. "Also, your queen demands that, hmm... you, you, you, and you stay behind to serve her," Rarity said, pointing at the cutest boys in the crowd.

 

"Rarity," Sunset whispered harshly. "What are you doing?"

 

"Might as well enjoy it, don't you think? They can at least help us clean the mess they made."

 

"Ugh, fine. As long as nothing else goes wrong."

 

The snap of a towel cracked in the background, followed by Snails yelling out. "Onward, servants! You heard your queen!" he said from the back of an empty wagon to a boy carrying it in the front.

 

Sunset let out another weary groan, but Twilight was there to give her an attempt at a reassuring smile. "Hey, at least it wasn't the police right?"

 

All Sunset could do was lethargically walk back to her spot on the couch, her friends and her new servants in tow. "They're probably not far behind now. Let's just get this night over with."

 

[hr]

 

"You know? I think I could actually get used to this," Sunset said from atop her candy throne. The massive pile sat high above any of the rest of the chairs in the house and was surprisingly comfortable, aside from the occasional lollipop stick poking her in the back. Her friends all sat around her, enjoying the unwrapped candy that her new servants happily handed them.

 

"You and me both," Rainbow added, shoving her random concoction of chocolate and gummy worms into her mouth

 

The doorbell rang and a group of children held out their bags with big, cheery smiles. "Trick or treat!" they all yelled in delight. Sunset smiled as she saw the line of kids forming up behind them, huge, excited grins plastering their faces. The uncertain servant scooped up another armful from the pile and did his best to distribute it to the children.

 

Before he could get another armful, he gave a few nervous glances to Sunset. "Uh, my queen? Do you really wish to give your offerings away like this?"

 

Rarity lifted her head from her spot on the couch, waving away the boy that was gently fanning her with a plate. "Maple, darling, if your ruler wanted your opinion she would have asked. Now do as she pleases or you're going on mop duty with Sage."

 

The boy gave a somber nod and leaned over for another load. "Yes, mistress Rarity."

 

Sunset couldn't help but shake her head. "Rarity, you are horrifyingly good at this."

 

"Oh please, Sunset, this is how things should be. I'm just enjoying it properly."

 

Twilight cleared her throat. "Don't you think we should tell them before it gets out of hand?"

 

Rainbow's joy turned into a glare. "And stop all this? Are you kidding?"

 

"It is a little much..." Fluttershy said as her servant handed her a piece of taffy, which she thanked with a sweet smile.

 

Applejack stretched out on the side of the throne, as she struggled with a bag of skittles between her paws. "I don't think they're gonna get the message."

 

"Yeah... it didn't work the first eight times," Sunset said. "Look." With a nonchalant wave, she signaled one of the boys over. "Curly, this has all been a misunderstanding. I'm not actually a demon. You can go home."

 

The boy shivered in fear and looked around at the girls. "I-i-is this a test, your majesty? I swear to remain loyal to you."

 

"No, it's not. Seriously, go home."

 

Instead, the blue-haired boy simply kneeled. "It must be a test. I will be a part of your army no matter what, my queen."

 

"See?" Sunset said with a mouthful of chocolate.

 

Twilight could only offer a face full of confusion and disappointment. As the girls went back to enjoying their newfound royalty, the excited faces of the kids outside turned to fear as they backed away from the encroaching light. The girls all traded glances before getting up to see what the commotion was.

 

"Alright, a little more, a little more, a little more. STOP! ...a little more," The unmistakable voice of Pinkie Pie pierced their ears as they made it to the doorway. Every single one of the girls gasped as they saw the literal truckload of candy that Pinkie was guiding in.

 

"Wha... Pinkie! What are you doing?" Sunset asked.

 

"I'm making an offering, silly. What does it look like?" she said with a giggle.

 

Sunset could only blink in bewilderment. "How... what... what are we even supposed to do with this much candy?"

 

"Whatever demon queens usually do with it, I guess. Oh, oh! We could make a fort! Or melt it all together to make new flavors! Or make candy angels or a candy snowman!"

 

"Pinkie! I'm not a demon queen! I don't need an offering!" Sunset said, doing her best to get her friend to stop.

 

The words did nothing to stop her from opening the tailgate to let an actual avalanche of candy spread out onto the porch. "Oh, I know. But this has been a super fun game! Look at how much candy you got everyone to collect. I only got like half of that when I tried to take over the town."

 

"When did you... wait, you know this is a game?" Sunset asked, even more confused now.

 

"Well, duh," Pinkie said as she hopped up and proceeded to fish out a shovel and begin throwing scoops onto the porch. "Nobody thinks you're actually a demon again, I mean come on."

 

The girls could only trade more confused glances before they looked upon their servants, who stood unphased by the revelation.

 

"Pinkie, dear, maybe this is a little much. Perhaps you could take it back?" Rarity suggested.

 

The words fell on deaf ears as Pinkie perked up like she got an idea, then proceeded to shoot a hand into the massive pile and fish out a king-sized candy bar. "Did you guys save my cheese?" she asked as she jumped down.

 

Applejack's eye twitched. "That was [i]your[/i] cheese?"

 

Pinkie ignored them and made her way into the house, her nose up in the air on the prowl. "Oh, and don't worry, that's only like a tenth of candy stash sixteen."

 

Sunset looked between the actual truckload and her preoccupied pink friend. "A tenth!?"

 

She stopped for a moment in thought. "Hmm... no you're right. It's probably closer to two twentieths," she said before going back to the kitchen.

 

It was Twilight's turn to have her eye twitch. "Pinkie, those fractions are the same."

 

"Oooh, there it is!" Pinkie said as she grabbed the blackened, still-smoking bowl of burnt cheese and proceeded to dip the chocolate into it and take a bite. "Hmm, that's not as good as it usually is."

 

Fluttershy barely suppressed a gag and Rainbow couldn't help but stick her tongue out before talking. "How would that have ever been good in the first place?"

 

"What, you've never had choco-peanut-cheese-butter? You're missing out, you know," Pinkie said between chews.

 

Sunset could only shake her head with an amused laugh. "Well, this isn't the worst thing that could've happened at least. We can use it to make the throne bigger and give out more."

 

Pinkie wiped her mouth before peeking out the door. "Oh yeah, I did take some of this candy from the resistance. They said something about following me here to keep it from getting into the demon queen's hands, but I think they got tired after the fourth mile."

 

Sunset's amusement quickly turned serious as blinked a few times in surprise. "Wait, the resistance?"

 

"Yeah! That's part of the game, isn't it? Your servants go around trying to recruit people and the resistance goes around making sure they can't bring any candy back to you, right? It's a super fun game and only three people have gotten hurt so far!"

 

The look of terror returned to all of the girls' faces as Pinkie went back to the kitchen to enjoy the rest of her horrible concoction. They could all see the sudden panic in each other's eyes building as they considered what to do. Unfortunately, their potential brainstorming got cut short by the sound of a familiar voice shooting through the house from a megaphone.

 

"We've blockaded every street, you she-demon! You're not gonna recruit anybody anymore," Applebloom's voice exclaimed.

 

The girls went back to the door to see what the commotion was to find a horde of students at the street, all adorned in makeshift armor from household items, holding weapons made out of sticks and sports equipment, standing at the ready for some imminent battle. Behind the frontlines, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle stood adamant atop their haphazardly-constructed war wagon, the same intense glares adorning their faces.

Applejack stepped forward and waved her hands. "Girls! She ain't a demon. Stop all this ruckus before somebody gets hurt."

 

They all steeled their expressions and hunkered down instead. "That's just someone who's under her control would say," Apple Bloom shot back.

 

"What in the—" Applejack said, visibly getting frustrated. "It's just a costume, you knuckleheads"

 

Before the group could answer back, the crowd from earlier came pouring onto the front lawn to block off the armor-clad classmates. Snips and Snails jogged to a stop at the front door, doing their best to stop their panting and wheezing. "Fear...ah, fear not, my queen, for we are here to defend you!"

 

Apple Bloom let out a frustrated growl. "I done told y'all we could defeat her! All you had to do was get lost."

 

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle added. "How did you get past the blockade, anyway."

 

"Nothing can stop us from defending our queen, and soon, you will know her wrath!" Snips exclaimed.

 

"Yeah!" Snails said as he jumped in. "You don't stand a chance."

 

Scootaloo stood up as tall as she could and raised her wiffle ball bat into the air. "We'll see about that. Soldiers!"

 

Pinkie gave an excited bounce as she finished off the last bite of her monstrosity. "Oooh, this should be fun."

 

"We've gotta do something!" Twilight said, panic growing on her face.

 

"Yeah, probably a good idea before we cause any more injuries," Rainbow added.

 

Sunset took in a deep breath before stepping up to the doorway. "I think I know what to do." She gave her friends a reassuring nod before hardening her expression to face the crowd. "You will all fail to defeat me, crusaders! I am impervious to any physical attack you might launch."

 

Snips stuck his tongue out at the girls. "See? I told you.

 

Sunset gave him a glare and continued. "The only way I can be defeated is with friendship! Your only chance is to party like you've never partied before! Enjoy candy and talk with each other or else you'll surely perish!"

 

Snails looked desperately between the resistance and his queen. "But wait, your highness, how are we supposed to defend you?"

 

Sunset blinked a few times as she thought. "Uh... you have to, uh... you have to party even harder than them! Whoever has the most fun—without attacking each other—will be the victor of this night!"

 

With their new orders, her servants all adopted confident smiles. "We're gonna party way harder than you will!" Snips yelled before running into the house and immediately beginning to dance.

 

"Nuh uh!" Apple Bloom shot back as she abandoned her position on her chariot to chase them inside.

 

Sunset tactfully stepped aside to let the crowd flood back into the house.

 

"Nicely played," Rarity said, giving her an impressed nod. "We get to enjoy the party yet again and we still keep our servants."

 

Twilight lifted her finger with uncertainty plain on her face. "Uh, how are we gonna get them to stop doing... that," she said, pointing over to the dancing students who were all glaring at each other menacingly.

 

Sunset pursed her lips for a moment. "Hmm, I guess I could fall dramatically and say I've been defeated. Is there a convenient crater I can pull off the wings and horns in?"

 

All the girls gave her a quick giggle except for Rarity, who immediately looked appalled. "Oh, you are not pulling out my immaculate stitching. The headband can go but you're just going to have to deal with the wings."

 

Sunset couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, fine. Let's just enjoy the party," she said as she and her friends made their way back to the candy throne, doing their best not to chuckle at the crowd of kids angrily having fun and enjoying treats.

 

 

[hr]

 

"Oh, Suuunseet~," Rarity called out in her cheery sing-song voice through the halls of CHS. "Guess who won best costume for the year!"

 

Sunset closed her locker and looked down at the paper Rarity had shoved into her hands. "Looks like me," she said, with more of the previous night's weariness.

 

"Isn't it wonderful! My design is going to get a full page in the yearbook," Rarity said with an excited little hop.

 

"Is it because they actually like it or is it because they were terrified I'll shoot a fireball at them if they didn't vote for me."

 

Rarity tapped her chin with her finger a few times while looking at the ceiling. "Hmm, I imagine a little bit of both. But you can't deny it looked good on you, dear."

 

Sunset rolled her eyes playfully. "Maybe a little too good," she said as she slipped the accolade into her backpack with a tired sigh. "At least it's over now anyway."

 

Rarity dawned a sheepish smile and looked away."Weelll, I wouldn't say that. There is a bit of a faction war brewing among those who didn't buy your performance last night and there is talk of a food fight at lunch time, so you may have to help deal with that."

 

All Sunset could do was put her hand up to her face in disappointment. "Rarity, please just make me the vampire costume next year."