Scootaloo’s scream lowered into panicked gasping for air as she sprinted blindly down a hallway, not taking the time to think logically. She didn’t want to know what that thing was back there, all she wanted was to be as far away from it as possible.
She wanted to reach for her headlamp button, but she didn’t want to stop for anything. She ran across the narrow hallway, not daring to look back in case that monster was giving chase. She just kept running, hoping her friends were behind her.
The hallway lit up in front of her as candles in sconces, and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, lit up on their own to reveal the reds and golds on the walls and carpet. She raced past paintings, suits of pony armour and porcelain busts of royal-looking pony heads in her race against the creature.
The same question raced in her head as she ran and ran for her short life--Why did I agree to do this?
Just as she was thinking there would be no end to the twisty-turny hallway, at the end was a door, that looked more lavish at the others but Scootaloo didn’t have time to register the details. She just prayed to Celestia and Luna--and Twilight for good measure--that it was unlocked.
And it seemed her prayers were answered, as the handle turned and the door opened with a miraculous click. “C’mon, get in quickly!”
Once she was sure all the ponies were inside, she shut the door and put the bold on to lock it. She wasn’t sure if that would stop the creature, but anything was better than nothing.
She slumped against the varnished wood and slid to the carpeted floor, panting and wheezing as her heart raced in a mixture of exhaustion and terror. When she felt she was ready to think again, she looked around the room.
Candelabras and chandeliers were lit up, showing that the room. A calm fire was crackling in a fireplace at the other side, surrounded by comfy looking chairs, a sofa facing its back to them, and what looked like a shag carpet. A queen-size, four-poster bed was on a small podium in the corner, with a bookcase next to it. This definitely seemed like the most lavish room.
She walked forward toward the fireplace, finding herself feeling comforted by the glow. “Looks like some kinda bedroom…”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom muttered, her own breath heavy and strained from the run. “A-Ah think we’re safe here… but Ah don’t think we’re alone.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, somepony lit all these candles, and the fireplace.”
“Y-yeah, but at least we know it’s somepony, not something… hey, wait a minute.”
The filly looked around the fireplace area, but only saw Apple Bloom next to her.
“Where’s Sweetie Belle?”
Apple Bloom turned to look over her shoulder, and yelped softly. “B-better yet… who’s that?!”
Scootaloo’s head turned right around, and her breathing froze as she saw a mossy green pony with a curly black mane laid across the sofa facing the fireplace. A Batpony mare wearing a fluffy robe.
“Vell vell,” she purred in a Roamanian accent, and rose from her luxurious position, “vhat have ve here, hm? Looks like a pair of adorable little fillies. Oh, I could just eat the two of you up… though I have more of a thirst than hunger~”
The two fillies cowered between the fireplace and the Batpony, who smirked as she loomed over them. Her two razor-sharp fangs glistened in the flickering light.