//------------------------------// // Night 1, Pt. 2: Revenge! // Story: The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters 2 // by JerryTheHouseGhost //------------------------------// "I don't think the cockatrice wants to leave," said Scootaloo. "Are ya sure?" asked Applebloom. "Maybe you should ask it." "Why should I be the one to ask it!?" "Because it's half-chicken." "Hey!" "Two against one, Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle. "You're just saying that because you don't want to ask it!" "What's your point?" "Gah! Fine! I'll ask if it'll leave!" "Thanks," said Applebloom. "No, thank you," Scootaloo replied sarcastically. She then turned to face the approaching cockatrice. "Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to want to leave us alone, would you?" The cockatrice cocked its head to the right, confused by the little filly who was trying to communicate with it. But since cockatrices don't know how to speak pony, it soon continued forward towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo turned around and looked at her companions. "I don't think it understood me." "I guess it's less of a chicken than ah thought..." said Applebloom. "I'll show you a chicken if you call me a chicken one more time!" "What does that even mean?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Who cares!? The cockatrice is getting closer!" Scootaloo pointed at the cockatrice, which was, in fact, closing the gap between itself and the three defenseless fillies. "I say we make a run for it!" "Make a run for what, exactly?" asked Applebloom. "How about that house over there?" "You mean the one that just appeared out of nowhere?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Houses can't just appear out of nowhere, Sweetie Belle. But yes, I was talking about that- hey!" Applebloom was already running to the house. "Wait up, Applebloom!" yelled Sweetie Belle. "And risk getting turned to stone!? No way!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo began to run towards the house. "Last one there is a statue!" said Scootaloo. "That's horrible!" cried Sweetie Belle. The three fillies finally made it to the house. "Do ya think the cockatrice followed us?" asked Applebloom. Sweetie Belle looked back where they had come from and saw the cockatrice slowly making its way to them. "Yes," answered Sweetie Belle. "I think we should get inside of this house and lock the door!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran around the house until they found the front door. They proceeded to enter the house and close the door. "Hey Scootaloo, could you lock the door?" asked Sweetie Belle as she and Applebloom began to explore the house. "Sure," replied Scootaloo. She turned around and watched as the door locked itself. Scootaloo stared at the lock for a while. "Well, that makes my job easier." She turned away from the door and caught up with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. "Ah think we should split up to cover more ground," suggested Applebloom. "Ah'll keep on exploring this floor. Scootaloo, you go upstairs and see what you can find. Sweetie Belle, you've got the basement." "The basement!? How do you even know there's a basement?" asked Sweetie Belle, who wanted more than anything for there to not be a basement. "That," said Applebloom, pointing at a doorway that led down into darkness. "Oh..." Scootaloo walked over to the door and looked down into the darkness. She then looked at Sweetie Belle. "Sucks for you!" Scootaloo ran up the stairs to the second level and escaped Sweetie Belle's wrath. "Oh, come on, Sweetie Belle," started Applebloom, "it can't be that bad down there." Sweetie Belle sighed. "I guess you're right." Applebloom walked down the hall and into another room. Sweetie Belle walked over to the basement doorway and looked for a light switch. "Bingo," she said as she spotted one just through the doorway to the right. She flipped it, but nothing happened. "Huh?" She flipped it several more times just to make sure it really wasn't working. Still, no lights turned on in the basement. "Great. Just my luck." Sweetie Belle took one step down the stairs and instantly slipped and began falling down the steps. "Oh crap! Aaahh! Ow! Oof! Aaagh! Gah! Ooooow! AAaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!" Sweetie Belle finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ooooooowww!" Applebloom and Scootaloo ran to the basement door. "Sweetie Belle! Are you okay!?" asked Scootaloo. "No! I just fell down stairs! Oooooooooowww!!!" "Why didn't you turn on the lights?" asked Applebloom. "The light switch didn't work!" "Oh... Why not use your magic to light up the room?" "I haven't learned the light spell, yet!" "Oh..." "Wait, hold on! I feel something..." "What is it?" asked Applebloom. "I think it's a wall. I'm following it." "Why are you going deeper into the pitch black basement!?" asked Scootaloo. "I don't know! I thought it would be productive!" The light in the basement suddenly turned on. "Wha- how!?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Ah just flipped the switch right here," said Applebloom. Sweetie Belle was silent. "Sweetie B-" "Are you kidding me!?!?!?!" "Nope." "Dang it!" "What do you see down there?" asked Scootaloo. "Uh... I see a lot of things covered in sheets... There's a lamp with no light bulb in it." "Can you turn it on?" "Let me see." Click! "Nope. Wait a minute... Girls, I think you better get down here." "Why?" asked Applebloom. "Just get down here!" The two fillies made their way down the stairs into the basement and looked around until they saw Sweetie Belle staring at a wall. On the wall was a message written in red. "I will have my revenge!" said Sweetie Belle, reading the message. "You can read?" asked Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, I'm pretty sure we can all read." Scootaloo looked at the message. "Oh yeah." "I think this message was meant for us, girls," said Applebloom. "What makes you say that?" asked Sweetie Belle. "The fact that it has our names right underneath it." "Oh... Hey, what's that?" Sweetie Belle walked over to the right of the message and took a piece of paper off of the wall. "It's a drawing of us and- oh my!" "What!? A drawing of us and what!?" "A drawing of us, and Slender Stallion is behind us!" "Does it say anything!?" "The caption says 'Always Behind You.' " "Does it say anything on the back?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle flipped the paper over. "It says 'See Other Side.' " The basement light suddenly turned off, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders in complete darkness. "Ah!" screamed Sweetie Belle. "What the!?" yelled Scootaloo. "Shh, be quiet! Listen..." said Applebloom. The thre fillies became silent and listened for what Applebloom heard. The sound of hoofsteps was heard just above the fillies, and then began sounding further away. "Whatever it is, it's going upstairs," said Applebloom. "Maybe we should get out of here," said Sweetie Belle. "I don't think we'll be able to do that," said Scootaloo. "Why not?" "Because the door locked on its own." "Why didn't ya tell us that sooner, Scootaloo!?" asked Applebloom. "I didn't think it was too important since you wanted the door to be locked anyway." "Whatever. I guess we'll just have to go upstairs and see what's in here with us." "Wait! Hold on just one second! Our plan goes from getting away from this place to chasing after whatever is up there!?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Do you have any better ideas?" "Um..." Sweetie Belle thought for a little while. "We could just wait here longer until I think of a better idea."