Quirltober 2021 Collection

Fried Rice adjusted her daughter's pointy hat, tipping it over the filly's right ear. The costume wasn't extremely immersive; the mare had only learned about the holiday a week ago while visiting some quirlicorn friends and made no noticeable effort to come up with something other than look through an album and grabbing some cheap cloth at a thrift store. She herself wore a red ribbon over her eyes to mimic the effect of the "hero" picture album. 

She didn't particularly like the idea of accompanying her daughter to meet strangers and receive treats. No, that contradicts all known safety rules.

But her daughter's friends had begged her to accompany them, with their parents offering to take Carrot Cake down the dimly lit streets and into the grimly decorated yards of strangers.

Fried Rice refused, slightly offended that her friends would ever consider this an acceptable celebration. However, she was confronted by a herd of begging quirlicorn foals, all practically begging her to let their bestest friend come along and have lots of fun. The filly herself pleaded with her mother to let her go. She'd be careful and she'd be polite. She would also be well behaved for the rest of the year so that Santa would bring her gifts (that was a whole other can of worms).

In the end, Rice made the compromise to accompany her daughter herself early in the evening. The filly cheered and was, as promised, an exemplary filly.

She asked around for where should bring her daughter, and everyone would reply the same thing: "bring her to Hocus Pocus."

When the day finally came, the mare and filly began their walk, following the red line Rice had traced on a map of the territory. 

The procedure was simple: make your way to the closest door, knock, and receive treats. 

After a few minutes of trick-or-treating, Rice began to understand what was so exciting about the holiday: the reward for crossing the spooky yard was always a surprise. Although she had promised herself to take away any excessive amount of candy the filly would get, she was charmed by Cake's giggles and cheers whenever they walked away, bounty safely secured in her cauldron bucket. It wouldn't hurt to let her keep some for the next few days, Rice thought. Or the next for weeks. It would be a good opportunity to teach her resource management and some dietary principles.

They turned towards the forest where Hocus Pocus lived. The parents had said that its ambience was scary at night, but Hocus Pocus kept her decorations in good taste for the foals. 

Rixe could catch a glimpse of a few bat-shaped garlands here and there, but, as promised, the majority of spooky elements were natural. In the daylight, though, spider webs and branch snapping could barely be called spooky, although her horse instinct remained alert.

Hocus Pocus' hut was covered with false cobwebs and spider garlands. There was a fake tombstone with freshly turned soiled next to the path that led to the door. 

"How clever," Rice thought. 

She watched Carrot Cake walk up to the door and knock.

"Come in!" a voice called.

The filly looked at her mother questionably.

Rice had been warned beforehand of Hocus Pocus' familiarity. 

"You may go in," she said.

The filly sheepishly opened the door. Beyond it, a black Dullahan mare was busy arranging colourful cookies on a plate.

"Happy Halloween! Come in, come in. I've just made a new batch of cookies."

The aroma of pumpkin spice and gingerbread lured the two visitors inside. After a whole session of trick-or-treating, Cake was unfazed by Hocus Pocus’s skull.

"They're too pretty to eat," Cake gasped in delight upon seeing the black cat cookies.

"I know right? It's a shame they're made for that. Personally, I like it this way. It makes me very happy that they both look good and taste good, am I right?"

Hocus Pocus encouraged Cake to pick a cookie, which the filly gladly did.

"Ummm, chocolate chips."

Hocus Pocus held out the plate in Rice's direction. 

"Please help yourself."

"Are you two new around here? It's the first time I see you trick-or-treating."

She made them some hot cocoa with adorable mummy-shaped marshmallows.

Cake nodded.

"We move around quite a lot," Rice answered. 

"Aha, travelers. Well, make sure to come by and visit often!"

Hocus Pocus invited Cake into her kitchen to pick her favourite pastries. She taught her how to fold a box and wrap everything nicely so that the icing wouldn't smudge. 

While the filly was busy decorating her box with some markers, the mare made her way to Rice.

"Your daughter is very precise with tools. I'd love to have her over again to teach her how to bake and decorate cookies. Will you be staying here for long?"

A smile creeped on Rice's face.

"Cake has made several good friends here. I was thinking of settling down until she grows a little bit older."

"That's wonderful! She's lucky to have you as her mother."

At that moment, Carrot Cake ran in with a beautifully decorated box. She had drawn herself, Fried Rice and Hocus Pocus on it. 

Hocus Pocus ruffled the filly's mane and congratulated her for her good work.

"I try my best," Fried Rice thought to herself.