Treats was a very well behaved fluffy. She had been ever since her owner had adopted her nearly a year ago, naming the young mare after Halloween due to her orange and black pattern. And living up to her name, Treats adored the concept of Trick or Treating, despite it being slightly scary. Her first Halloween she had still been closer to a foal than an adult, with her owner deciding to escort her via a wagon as he took her door to door. Dressed as a princess, the night seemed almost perfect, until he had pulled her too close to the Anderson house. True connoisseur of the spooky holiday, they always decked their entire yard out with the most frightening props they could cobble together. It was fairly tame by most standards, only managing to scare the younger children who were out for candy and mischief. The bowl of candy they gave out was seemingly unattended, in the lap of an eerie looing scarecrow that was most likely old man Anderson himself in a goofy disguise. But when the fake head of the dummy fell off as the body moved to grab Treats, it had been too much for her to take, the foal shrieking and falling from the wagon. She had run terrified circles as she had cried out for her owner, who scooped her up and took her homw right away.
It almost seemed silly now to Treats, having grown up enough to understand what her daddy had told her that night so many forevers ago. Halloween was all about make believe and pretend. All the scary and frightening things that were used to celebrate the holiday weren’t real, plain and simple. And even though thinking about that night when she’d been a helpless foal still gave her shivers, she was excited that not only was it Halloween again, but that her owner was going to let her Trick or Treat all by herself. It had taken a great deal of pleading on her part, and a promise that Treats would stay close to their neighborhood, but he had eventually caved. Clad in a princess costume like the year before, the young mare carried her treat bag in her maw as she trotted merrily down the street, excited at all the wonderful and yummy sweets she would have.
It went quite well at first, with the mare staying close to the children that were also celebrating Halloween. They were kind, and even had complimented her cute costume which mad her so happy. But as the sun began to set, the other children who were bigger and less nice emerged, taunting the younger children and stealing their hard earned treat bags.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUUU!!! NU HUWTIES TWEET!!!”
Driven into a panic by the yelling and screaming, Treats shrieked as she felt one of the bullies try and grab at her tail, fleeing as fast as her stubby little hooves could carry her. In a blind gallop, it wasn’t until she no longer heard the older child pursuing her that she realized that her attempt to flee him had led her right into the Anderson yard. She tried to remember what her owner had said, that none of it was real and it couldn’t hurt her. But as she saw the frightening ghosts that hung from the tree, the skeletons that doted the walkway, and the scarecrow, that terrible and nightmarish scarecrow that had given her such a fright last year. Frozen in fear, it wasn’t until she saw the straw stuffed man slowly turn towards her and stand up, taking it’s own severed head in hand as it began to shuffle towards Treats.
“NUUUUUUU!!! GU WAY’ !!! *SCREEEEEEE!!!”
Summoning what little vigor her little body had left, Treats dashed out of sight, running towards the other side of the Anderson house, hopeful that she could hide from the horrifying scarecrow. Trying to catch each breath as her hooves ached and her heart pounded in her chest, all she could think of was how wrong her owner had been. It was all real, just like she had thought. He had told her that the scary straw man was just a costume their neighbor was wearing for fun. How could he lie like that to her?! Lost in thought and panic, it wasn’t until she had reached the backyard that the fluffy was ripped from her thoughts as something in the dark lashed out at her, striking her leg as it hissed and spat angrily at her.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
The cold and bitter wetness caught her by as much surprise as the pain in her leg where it had struck her, the mare running past the unseen creature only to find another that came to life as she dashed into it. Still screeching from the pain and fear of the first, she coughed violently, the monster angrily spewing forth water in every direction somehow. Unsure what to do, Treats ran away from it, only to be met by the other that writhed and sputtered to life at her approach, filling the air with a cold torrent that the mare tried her best to avoid, only to disturb the second monster yet again.
“NUUUU…*cough HEWP TW…*cough *cough *SCREEEEE…*cough *cough *cough…”
“I’m sorry about the whole thing Daniel…” Mr. Anderson had found Daniel as fast as he could the moment he’d heard Treats scream. He’d felt just awful that he’d scared her so badly the previous year, only for history to repeat itself. Barely able to see in the scarecrow getup, he had tried to get it off to calm her down, but she’d bolted before he could get the head of the costume fully off. Once he’d found her owner, they had spent hours scouring the neighborhood, hopeful that they’d find her. He’d apologized several times thoughout the night but as night turned to early morning, he couldn’t help but feel awful, muttering an apology one more time.
“It’s not your fault…it’s mine. I knew this was a bad idea. But she wanted to do it on her own so badly…I should have told her no.”
In sore need of rest after a whole night of searching, the men made it back to Mr. Anderson’s home, creeping around the back so as not to disturb his sleeping wife. Before they turned the corner, the older man put his arm out to stop Daniel as he leaned down towards the side of the house and began to fiddle with a crank attached to the outdoor faucet. "Hold up Daniel. Let me turn this off first. I keep the sprinklers on back here with a motion sensor. Keeps the kids from egging the back of my house…
Made for @iFluffybooru 's Event #3: Fluffies Scared of the Mundane.
