“It can’t possibly be that scary” Rising said to himself quietly as he walked to the beginning of the haunted house. They’d paid for their entrance fee a few minutes ago, but he stood frozen in front of the door, unable to get the courage to enter.
“Come on Dawn!” Jet said tugging on Rising’s wing impatiently. It seemed like he’d been doing it all evening. “Are you going to chicken out on me after we’ve gotten this far?” He asked with a huff.
It was exactly the same thing that had happened last year. Dawn worked himself up too much and Jet had to go alone, while he sat sheepishly at the exit, shivering at the screams from inside.
“No!” Rising bit back, but he wasn’t so sure. He’d been on dozens of expeditions with Compass which were surely scarier, but he was always able to push through because he’d have the promise of a new artifact, or bit of history knowledge under his hoof. This just seemed silly, and terrifying to go for no reason.
Jet leaned in by Rising’s ear and whispered, as if reading his mind, “if you can make it through, we’ll have some fun when we get home” he said, suggesting more than just a board game and some drinks like usual.
Dawn took a deep breath and nodded, the goal in his mind focusing his courage in one spot. “Ok, let’s go”
The carnival worker who had been exasperatedly waiting for them opened the door and Jet led Dawn into the winding halls.
Dawn closed his eyes and held Jet’s wing as they walked through the halls. The air seemed damp, and the hollowness of the walls implied they weren’t sturdily made. There were quiet screams of fright all around and in nearly every direction.
All of a sudden, he stubbed his hoof on a lifted board. He opened his eyes for a second to check it for damages, and found one of the actors directly in front of him with a mean looking growl which startled the daylights out of him and forced out a small squeak of surprise.
Jet, who had seemed unimpressed thus far began to laugh, but quieted when Dawn sent him a hurt look. They continued through the maze of walkways, every so often an actor would jump out, or sneak up on them and shriek.
Dawn jumped. Every. Single. Time. and Jet just tried to stifle his laughter, seemingly unaffected by the situation. When the house theme ended, black curtains covered the next section.
As soon as Rising laid eyes on the next room he froze and began to shiver uncontrollably. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and could barely breath.
When Jet looked through, he too knew what was wrong, attempting to contact a staff member.
Before the two of them was a room completely covered with spider webs and spider illusions moving about, so dense there was no possible way for them to not touch a web or two.
With Dawn in a terrified stupor, clinging to Jet for dear life, the two of them were led out of the house early through the emergency exits.