When the ponies are accidentally whisked into Rainbow's favorite radio program, the only way out... is to solve it. Unfortunately, the residents of Crystal Lake look a bit... familiar...
DISCLAIMER: Despite the cool looking cover image, Pinkie will most likely not be featured in this particular adventure. It just fit the theme I'm trying to tell. Sorry, Pinkie fans!
When the ponies are accidentally whisked into Rainbow's favorite radio program, the only way out... is to solve it. Unfortunately, the residents of Crystal Lake look a bit... familiar...
It was the middle of the summer, and Crystal Lake was an extremely popular hangout for the young mares and stallions. Most of them behaved themselves, and only came for a fun day of sports, togetherness, picnics and swimming. Some ponies even brought their various pets to give them a day of leisure as well. When the sun went down, however, the lake closed to the public during the night hours as there were no lifeguards on duty, and the park staff didn't want anypony getting hurt.
That didn't tend to stop some couples from sneaking in, though, to do whatever it was that couples did together at night in places they weren't supposed to be. As it was, it was just after eleven thirty, and Blazing Comet had come here with his marefriend, Stardust, for a night of adventure and risk taking. Stardust had been talked into it, and was having doubts.
Crack
Star's ears perked instinctively, unsure if she was hearing things or not. She looked fondly at Comet, who she knew would protect her if things got out of hoof. "Are you sure we're alone out here?" She asked.
"Don't worry, Star. There's nopony out here," he assured her. "We're completely alone, just like you wanted."
"Well, yes, but I could have sworn I heard somepony out there." She pressed up closer to Comet, who put his hoof around her protectively.
"If there is anypony out there, I'll fight them off," he said. "Come on, you did want to see the lake at night, didn't you? We won't go in far, and you have a flashlight."
"I suppose," Star agreed, before plunging further down the trail with her friend.
Crack
"There, see, I heard it again!" Star whispered.
"I didn't hear anything," Comet replied. "Are you sure?"
Crack
Comet's ears perked up. "I heard that..." he said. "It's probably just a fox or something." He looked at her teasingly. "Look on the bright side, if we get lost, we can always ask it for directions."
"Foxes don't talk, beanbrain," she said. "And even if it could, what would a fox say?"
"Probably nothing, it would be too distracted by how pretty you are in the moonlight."
"You're hopeless!" Star began laughing, and the two of them pressed forward. The trail was short and wound through the edge of the park, just barely lit up by the lights from the parking lot, which was designed to hold everything from full carriages to chariots.
The couple emerged from the trail just shortly before midnight, the lake glistening in front of them, waves gently lapping against the artificial beach, stars reflected in its surface from far overhead.
Star instantly felt her doubts lifting as she beheld the view, her heart pounding and her eyes widening.
"Oh, Comet, it's beautiful."
"Doesn't hold a candle to you, though," he added.
"Oh, stop," Star rolled her eyes. "Don't ruin it." Her cheeks were red, but she rushed forward before he could see them, standing on the very edge of the lake so the gentle waves would lap against her front hooves, with Comet slowly coming up behind her.
"See? There's nopony out here but us," Comet said, and nuzzled against her neck.
"That's sweet, perhaps you two should get a room," a deep voice rumbled.
Comet and Star both looked up in annoyance, with the former instantly going on the defensive. He did not appreciate being snuck up on, nor being told what to do.
"Listen, buddy, there's a whole lot of beach here, why don't you-" He turned just in time to see the pony standing behind them. If you could call it a pony. Four legged and just above average size, it was dripping with glowing green sludge. Its tail whisked irritably back and forth, but even that wasn't what the adventurous pair was staring at it. A short neck grew upward, as any would, before entirely stopping abruptly.
"Comet... it's headless... it can't be headless..." Star whispered, fear rising in her voice.
This didn't seem to phase the monster, however, as it let out an ear splitting screech like one might expect from a banshee. There was no mouth to form words, and its voice, if you could call it that, had an echoing effect to it, seeming to come from every direction at once. It was mystical, trippy, and absolutely terrifying.
Star screamed and raced down the beach, with Comet wasting no time in chasing after her. He turned to look back just in time to see the abomination chasing them, and his eyes widened.
"Faster, Star, faster!"
"I'm trying!" the mare cried, tears filling her eyes. "I can't run any faster, I only have four hooves!"
The two raced down the beach and cut into the darkness of the forest, the glowing headless pony not far behind. Nopony heard Star's terrified scream as the spectre disappeared into the trees.
"What will happen to Blazing Comet and Stardust? Will anypony believe their story about a terrifying headless pony? Tune in tomorrow night as the adventures continue!"
There was a soft click as Rainbow Dash reached up to turn off her portable radio, having spent the entirety of the program layng on a cloud that she'd placed just a few feet over the ground inside Twilight's Library.
Twilight was laying on the couch, and had been listening to the program for the first time at Rainbow's insistence. "I could make a list of all the impossibilities and technical inaccuracies I heard. That entire program is silly."
"Its not silly, it's a mystery!" Rainbow said. "And it's our job to solve it!"
Twilight just smiled. "And you're sure this sudden interest in mysteries has nothing to do with all those detective books I gave you?" She asked.
"What?! Of course not!" Rainbow sputtered. "Books are dumb."
"Except for Daring Do."
"Obviously," Rainbow agreed. "I've got cooler things to do than sit around all day reading dusty old books."
"So you listen to mysteries on your dusty old radio instead," Twilight said.
"Right!" Rainbow said, and a smile broke across her face. "And it's only gonna get cooler."
"I still don't see why we all had to come here," Rarity complained. "It's dreadfully wet outside, and a good night to be in front of the fire with wine instead of out and about. Although I can't complain about being with my friends, I do dislike the rain. It creates such a mess."
"I like it," Fluttershy said. "The rain is good for the plants, and then the plants grow big so the little animals can eat them."
Rainbow shook her head. "But we're not here for plants or wine, we're here for mystery and suspense! For drama and terror!" She flailed her hooves in the air, as if to make a point.
Fluttershy's ears pinned back. "Oh, that might be a bit much, perhaps I should go..." She rose from her seat and started heading for the door.
"Park it, Shy!" Rainbow commanded. Flutters yelped and immediately assumed a sitting position.
"Don't yell at Fluttershy," Twilight said. "She's free to leave if she feels like it."
Rainbow continued, excitedly. "I've filled you all in on the events which were in last nights episode, and tonight we're gonna find out what happened at Crystal Lake!"
Rarity made a face. "I don't like the name Crystal Lake, darling. It emits a sense of danger and unfortunate circumstance, and makes one thing of deranged killer ponies."
Twilight snorted. "Equestria is a big place, I'm sure there are several Crystal Lakes. You'd have to be fairly ignorant to immediately associate the events of one Crystal Lake with all the other ones."
"Who are we cheering for, again?" Fluttershy asked. "I want to know who the nice ponies are."
"Don't worry, it's a mystery show, and there's always this one group who goes around solving them," Rainbow said. "They- oh, it's starting! I'll have to fill you in later!"
"I look forward to it," Spike chimed in. He'd been sitting with Twilight, rubbing his eyes with sleep. The radio program was on in the late evening, and he should have been in bed by now.
"Be nice, Spike," Twilight whispered. "Rainbow really likes this show."
Rainbow turned up the volume dial on the radio, and spooky music filled the room.
"They always start with recapping the night before," Rainbow said. "And then the story moves forward."
The music pitched up and down with particularly inconsistent clarity, and Rainbow Dash groane and shook the small radio. "Ugh, come ON," she complained. "This old thing never works right. Twilight, can you see if you can fix it?"
"I'm not too good with radios," Twilight admitted. "But I can try." She walked slowly towards it, examining the device from every angle. Her horn lit up with a bright purple aura, and the aura encased the radio in its clutches.
"I just have to do a bit of tweaking, and I should hopefully be able to fix the sound," Twilight said. "I just have to adjust the frequency, and..."
Without any further warning, the radio shot up towards the ceiling, and hovered in the air. It was giving off violent purple sparks of electricity, no longer making noise of any kind.
"That doesn't look like you fixed it," Fluttershy said quietly.
Gusts of wind began to pick up inside the Library, air beginning to circulate around the radio at a dangerously rapid velocity.
"What did you do?!" Rainbow demanded.
"I just increased the sound clarity!" Twilight insisted. "It was supposed to make everything sound more realistic!"
Rarity was the first to be caught in the circulating current, and gave a cry of dismay as she lifted off the floor.
"If we ever manage to fix this, I'm calling a town meeting about your magical mishaps! Perhaps that will supply you with a decent dose of realism!" Rarity complained, the wind pulling her backwards towards the radio.
Fluttershy whimpered but saw that Rarity was in trouble, and grabbed onto her front legs. The two still yet were pulled backwards, with Rarity's back legs disappearing into the vortex. Rainbow Dash took hold of Fluttershy's back legs, trying to pull both her friends to the ground, but still the gravitational force increased and pulled them all backwards.
"This is not what I had in mind for a nice quiet evening..." Fluttershy whimpered.
Twilight was last on the ground, and took hold of Rainbow's back legs, in a desperate attempt to get them all back onto the ground.
"Turn it off, Twilight!" Rainbow yelled over the wind.
"I can't! I don't know what went wrong!"
Twilight felt her hooves leave the ground, and struggled without success. The girls were pulled backward, and Spike leaped forward to grab hold of Twilight's tail before it swung out of reach. With a final cry of fear and a blinding flash of purple light, the radio fell from the ceiling and clattered to the ground.
The air around Crystal Lake was calm and warm. The weather was tolerable and cooperative, and under most circumstances the lake would be filled with laughing children and relaxing adults. That was before the rumors of a terrifying headless pony had made the rounds of the local village. The air rippled with humidity, and perhaps a bit of something else.
Rarity was the first to be spat out of the vortex, with Fluttershy attached to her back legs. Rainbow Dash followed, then Twilight, who had Spike attached to her tail. All were spat out attached to each other as a string of fur and feathers, crashing into each other as the ground.
Rainbow was first up, her eyes darting in every direction. She might have recognized the place a bit faster had it not merely been described on a radio program, thus there was no visual comparison to make. Fluttershy made a whimpering sound as she'd landed fairly forcefully on her wing, and stumbled to her hooves.
"Rainbow Dash, what am I wearing?" She asked timidly. "I mean, if you don't know, that's okay..."
The multi colored mare looked over at Fluttershy, her eyes widening with excitement. Fluttershy was dressed in some sort of workout gear, with a black headband around her mane and stretchy black wristbands around her hooves."No way!" She exclaimed. "You're Shadow Chaser!"
"Who?"
"Okay, like, in my show, there's this group called Phantasm that goes around solving mysteries. You're Shadow Chaser, a fairly timid and cowardly mare with good intentions. She tries to be brave and hides her fear by doing workout sessions instead, making her the fastest one in the group."
"Oh, I think I can handle that," Flutters whispered.
"And me?" Rarity asked, looking down at the flowing white robe she was wearing. "I'm all for a new ensemble, but this outfit absolutely clashes with my coat. I may have to improve it."
"Dojo Diva," Rainbow continued. "A no nonsense fashionista with a kick as deadly as her attitude. She's the usual defensive mechanism for the group, and extremely effective when she isn't getting herself kidnapped or something."
Rarity scoffed. "Kidnapped, me?" She repeated incredulously. "We'll just see about that."
Rainbow Dash looked down at herself, wearing a snazzy one piece vest. "That brings us to Storm, the self designated leader of the group, slightly egotistical, but reliable. Very good at solving puzzles."
Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure this show wasn't secretly designed for us?"
Twilight was spat out of the sky at a violent velocity, skidding upon the ground. It took her a moment to stand up, leading to gasps from the rest of the group.
"I see..." Fluttershy whispered.
"What?" Twilight asked. "Did I mess up my mane?" She looked down, immediately noticing the sharp talons that replaced her hooves. She screamed.
Fluttershy screamed.
Rarity gasped.
"Everypony stop screaming!" Rainbow shouted. "Theodora Saurus, called Thesaurus for short. A brilliant student and intellectual. And... a gryffon."
"Well that's just fantastic," Twilight said, trying to get a look at herself. Her feathers were a deep, dark purple, with pink highlights on her wings and on the tips of the feathers extending over her forehead. She was dressed in a white collared shirt and dark blue skirt, in what appeared to be some sort of school uniform. A much younger gryffon was clutching her tail, still having its thick hatchling fluff.
"And Ferris," Rainbow finished. "A young orphaned gryphon chick who follows Thesaurus around."
"Why do I always get the lame roles?" Spike complained.
"So what do you think?"
"I think we have a mystery to solve, gang!" Rainbow announced. Rarity facehooved.
"The only mystery in this place is how we're going to get out of this dreadful place," the fashionista complained.
Unlikely, unintimidating names, belonging to an even more unlikely group of ragtag friends who just so happened to have a mystery thrust upon them. Twilight, more so than the rest, was not a fan of her schoolfilly outfit.
"I look like I belong in one of Rainbow's fanfics," she complained.
"Hey!" Rainbow protested.
Rarity shrugged with indifference. "I must say this is not the type of thing I would usually wear on an outing like this, and especially not to solve a mystery. I would have brought along my feathered sleuthing hat. But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose, and it will have to do for now."
"You have a sleuthing hat?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm prepared for everything," Rarity said. "Now, Rainbow, dear, seeing as we've been twisted into this mystery program of yours, and you're such a big fan of it, perhaps you can tell us how to get out. Who done it, as they say." She giggled. "Ooh, I feel like such a detective!"
"I'm afraid it's not that easy," Rainbow sighed. "It's a premiere story, which means it's not a rebroadcast, which means it's never played before. I don't know how this one turns out."
"Then we solve it!" Twilight announced. "Now, what sort of spooky creature were we hunting after again?"
"A headless horse," Rarity said. "A ghastly apparition of emerald coloration, approximately one and a half times larger than the average pony. Bits of ivory bone stick out from where its flesh has decayed, giving it a horrendous appearance in addition to its lack of a head, while its neck extends out and simply ends.. The only thing that's worse than its appearance is its breath, which one might compare to sulphur or rotting eggs."
Fluttershy squeaked and jumped into Rainbow's front legs, and Rainbow, who had not been prepared to catch a leaping pegasus, fell to the ground.
"Get off me," she hissed.
"That's excellent, Rarity!" Twilight said, surprised. "You'd make a great radio announcer. How did you know all that?"
Rarity flushed. "I was paying attention to the base description given in the introduction of the broadcast," she explained. "And it's standing right behind you."
"Oh, well in that ca-" Twilight blinked. She looked behind her, into the glowing red eyes of a bright green headless horse, which roared at her in a hideous fashion, splattering her features with drool.
"That's unfortunate," Spike said, and the gryffin chick leaped onto Twilight's back. "Would love to stay and make friends, but look at the time, it's late, gotta be going!"
Twilight made a run for it, not daring to look behind her a second time. Rainbow was on her left, with Fluttershy and Rarity immediately behind.
"Go faster, go faster, it's gaining on us!" Fluttershy cried.
The quartet burst through the woods, weaving between the trees in the darkness, their path only dimly lit by the moon. They skidded to a halt outside of the wooded border, and Rarity cast a glance behind them.
Silence.
"That was awesome! We totally lost it!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"That was horrible," Fluttershy said quietly."
"That was fake," Twilight said. "It has to be. There's no such thing as a headless horse. But for the sake of keeping up appearances, I'll hold off accusations until I have more clues."
"That's very noble of you," Rarity said. "I'd hate to embarrass ourselves with false charges."
Fluttershy had begun walking away, and Twilight hurried after her.
"What is it?" The gryffin asked.
"I want to see where this path leads," Fluttershy said. "The farther away from that thing we are, the better."
"I like this plan!" Rainbow said. "Lead on, Shadow Chaser!"
The path they were on wound out of the park, and onto a street. Across the street was a very shady looking motel, with the large letters overhead mostly burned out, only the M O L faintly flickering.
The group shared a glance, before crossing the street and entering the motel. And at once, encountering the last creature in the world they wanted to see at that moment.
"Greetings, ladies and gentleman!" Discord announced. "Will that be four rooms or five?"
"He did it!" Rainbow announced. "Discord's the terrifying headless pony, mystery solved, we can all go home now."
There was silence for a moment as they all looked around expectantly, but nothing happened.
"I'm afraid you might have me mixed up with someone else," Discord said. "I am the innkeeper, Hilton. While I am happy to accommodate your group, I've never seen you before in my life."
"Likely story!" Rainbow threatened. "You're up to your old tricks again!"
Twilight grabbed her friend by the tail and hauled her backwards.
"I thought we just agreed not to make false accusations!" She hissed.
"But it's Discord!" Rainbow pleaded.
Twilight looked over at him. "No, I don't think it is. We've been sucked into a radio broadcast by unstable magic. Since radio is an auditory medium and not a visual one, I suspect the magic did what it could and our memories did the rest."
Fluttershy frowned. "So, like, this this place is going to be filled with ponies we know who aren't who we think they are?"
"Don't start using 'like' improperly, Fluttershy. It makes my brain twitch," Rarity warned.
"I think so," Twilight continued. "Similarly, they might know us by our radio characters. It'll make things less confusing."
"Fine," Rainbow said. "But it doesn't mean I have to like him." She turned her attention back towards the draconequus. "Four rooms, please," she said.
Discord just smiled. "And who will that be under?" He slid the registry forward across the desk.
"I'm... uh... Storm."
"Well then, Storm, I hope you enjoy your stay," Discord said. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Oh, I'll let you know alright," Rainbow said, and once they'd all finished signing, the group headed upstairs to their rooms.
Outside, rapidly flicking light cast shadows on and off, as if ominous lightning had suddenly cracked across the sky, without the usual thunder that followed it.
Discord frowned, and looked outside. "I really must get that back light fixed," he muttered.
The following morning, the group emerged from their rooms with renewed energy and vigor. Twilight and Spike were the first ones up, with Rarity following shortly after. Rainbow Dash needed just a bit of persuasion to wake up before noon, but after a bit of reminding that she'd be ever so much cooler by solving a mystery, the mare was awake and ready to go.
Rarity pounded on Fluttershy's door with the group gathered around, the latter having not emerged yet. "Fluttershy, darling, are you alright? We must be going!"
"That's okay! I can solve the mystery from my bed! The Headless Horse can't get me here!"
Twilight sighed, and looked down at her gleaming yellow talons. "I knew I'd find a use for these things eventually," she said, moving towards the door and fiddling her claw in the lock.
There was a faint click, and the door swung open. The room was perfectly clean and untouched, save for the trembling figure underneath the blankets.
Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy from beneath the blankets, and the protesting pegasus was dragged out through the door.
"That horse must have really gotten to her," Spike said.
Rainbow kept moving backwards, before bumping into what felt like a fairly solid object. She turned around, her face turning red as she realized she'd backed right into a mare and a stallion, a couple she'd never seen before.
"Did I hear you guys say you're going after the Headless Horse?" The stallion asked.
"It's a terrifying thing," the mare added.
Fluttershy slowly rose to her hooves, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else. Twilight pressed in closer.
"Wait a moment, so you've seen it, too? That's fantastic! Who are you? What happened? Tell me everything!"
"I'm Comet, and this is Star," the stallion said. "It was horrific. We were just out at the lake the other night, and-"
"Wait, at night?" Twilight frowned, or at least attempted to. It was more difficult with a beak. "I thought the public parks closed after dark."
Rainbow Dash facehooved.
"We snuck in," Star said, annoyed.
"What?! You could have been hurt! That's-"
"Twi- I mean... Thesaurus! Knock it off!"
Twilight sighed. "Continue. I'll lecture you on safety procedure later."
"We snuck in, wanting some alone time," Comet continued. "Nothing extreme, we just wanted to see the lake by moonlight under all the stars. It's romantic."
Spike made a chirping noise. "Uh-huh."
"So we were just minding our own business, and this THING attacked us, right by the lakefront! It was big and green, and-"
"And headless?" Rarity asked.
"Yes!" Star confirmed. "Oh, it was grotesque."
"I can imagine," Fluttershy added. "It chased us all the way out here."
"It attacked you guys too?" Comet asked. "Excellent!"
"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Well I mean, excellent, we're not crazy, somepony else totally saw it. In which case we're getting the hay out of here before it scares us... I mean Star... any further."
"You were screaming louder than I was!" Star protested.
"See? She's in shock, hearing things."
He put his hoof around Stardust, and carefully led the mare away from the group.
Heading back downstairs, Twilight was hoping that Discord was still available, as she had a few questions she wanted to ask him. She was not disappointed, as the desk clerk was still manning the same station he had been guarding the night before. While suspicious, she didn't see occasion to accuse him outright... yet.
"We need to do some investigating," Twilight announced, approaching the desk.
"Alright?" Discord asked.
"So we need to know what's around here. Anything of interest?"
"There's a barn in back, more of a storage shed really. If you keep following the road away from the lake there's a few houses, a small store, a diner, not much," Discord rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And down the road on the other side of the lake is Auntie Dixon's ranch. She's a sweet mare, comes into town every week for vegetables."
"Alright! Thanks, Discord!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"It's Hilton," he corrected.
"Whatever, whoever you are," Rainbow Dash shook her head. "It's time to split up, gang! Twilight, you take Spike and Fluttershy and go investigate the ranch. I'll go with Rarity and take a look at the town. We meet back here tonight around dusk. Sound good?"
"Fair enough," Twilight agreed. "Everypony keep your eyes open, and don't do anything dangerous. That headless horse has to have a motive, and I want to know what it is." The group gave a nod of approval, and parted ways, with Rainbow Dash and Rarity heading into town.
Discord snorted once they'd all left. "What a bunch of weirdos."
The road towards Aunt Dixon's ranch was long, but straightforward. The trio had to go nearly halfway around the lake before the road branched off again, and continued following it. The ranch they found was fairly worn down and in decent need of repairs, but it was not difficult to find. Twilight carefully ascended the rickety stairs and knocked on the door, and was absolutely astonished when Applejack answered the door.
"...Aunt Dixon?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yes ma'am!" The orange pony said. "Ah'm everypony's aunt 'round these parts, come far'n wide. We don't got much, but our door's always open!"
"But your door was closed," Twilight pointed out.
"Bah! Don't take it literal, s'one of of them meta...pod things. Either way, y'all just come right in!" She turned around at this point and hollered back into the ranch.
