It was Nightmare Night once again. Foals were going trick-or-treating, while teens and adults were going to parties. Six creatures learned about a haunted house that had to change eight foals’ lives forever. Wanting to know about how it all happened, they decided to investigate.
* * * *
The six creatures, Sandbar (who’s an earth pony that had three sea turtles as a cutie mark and had an interest in making friends), Smolder (who’s a teenage dragon that loved pulling pranks but secretly liked wearing dresses and attending tea parties), Gallus (who’s a griffon that that had a bad attitude but nevertheless, had a heart towards his friends), Ocellus (who’s a nervous reformed changeling that had a great interest in books), Yona (who’s a yak that loved to smash things and is Sandbar’s girlfriend), and Silverstream (who’s a happy-go-lucky hippogriff that loved adventures), walked outside of the School of Friendship grounds. They had just come out of a party there and decided to go someplace for an after-party.
“You know,” Sandbar said. “I had a lot of fun at the party. Did you, Yona?”
“Yona sure did!” Yona exclaimed. “Yona want to have more fun!”
“Anyone have any ideas?” Ocellus asked.
“I got one,” Gallus said. “How about that haunted house a lot of creatures have been talking about? I heard that it’s called, ‘The House of No Return’.”
“You mean that place where eight foals played a game of truth or dare and only one managed to make it out as himself?” Ocellus asked. “Are you crazy? I heard that those that had lost never came back as ponies.”
“I heard that they all turned into kittens,” Silverstream asked.
“Which is why it would be interesting to see if we can try to figure out what caused it all,” Gallus continued. “We should try to see if we can figure out a way to put a stop to it.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Sandbar asked. “What if we end up just like them?”
“Oh come on,” Smolder said. “It would be fun to go on Nightmare Night. I’m in.”
“Ditto,” Silverstream said. “It should be an interesting experience.”
“Yona want to see if we can save the foals,” Yona said.
“I guess we’re outnumbered,” Sandbar said disappointedly.
With that said, the Young Six walked to “The House of No Return”. Upon arriving the gate of the house, they saw a sign that said, “Once you enter, there is no turning back”, pinned on the door of the gate.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Ocellus said worriedly. “Look at the sign.”
“Seriously?” Gallus responded. “Are you really going to just listen to what a sign says?”
“That sign just makes me want to go in much more,” Smolder said.
“Uh, okay,” Ocellus said worriedly.
As the six creatures walked to the front door, the saw a letter taped on it. Smolder pulled the letter off the door and read it.
“To those that that have made it to the front door, please be aware that the game is real,” she read. “If you choose to play the game, you have to complete it. If you don’t, the game will curse you! If you don’t tell the truth or do the dare, you will turn into a cat. My friends have suffered that fate and they have never changed back! The game will end either when all of the players are turned or when five rounds are completed. If you don’t want to end up like my friends, please leave now! This game is dangerous and you may end up seriously hurt! Signed, The Survivor.
“Wow, that’s a lot of details,” Sandbar said.
“Oh please,” Gallus said skeptically. “I doubt it’s true. The writer of the card could be exaggerating to scare us.”
The six creatures walked inside and saw the layout of the house. It looked exactly how it looked like last year, including the chiming grandfather clock, the old-fashioned TV, and the kitchen including the refrigerator and the stove. Upon seeing what the house looked like, the creatures became perplexed.
“This house doesn’t look anything out of the ordinary,” Smolder said disappointedly.
“I thought that the house looked scary,” Gallus said.
“I’m sure that there’s more to it,” Sandbar said.
“Maybe there’s some books inside that might help us,” Ocellus said worriedly.
“Then let’s search,” Silverstream said excitedly.
The six creatures split up and searched for books and papers that may help them solve the mystery. While looking, Silverstream had an idea and regrouped with her friends.
“Hey guys, I got an idea!” Silverstream said excitedly. “Let’s play the game! Let’s see if it’s real!”
“Are you crazy?!” Ocellus shouted. “Didn’t you just read the letter?”
“Yeah man,” Sandbar chimed in. “I think that it’s real.”
“Oh please,” Smolder said. “It’s obviously a prank. The ‘Once you enter, there’s no turning back’ sign; the letter? Seriously, this guy is obviously mentally insane. I bet he’s just writing a story and may have killed his friends to look innocent.”
“Yona don’t think so,” Yona said. “Yona thinks survivor is telling the truth.”
“I believe it is too,” Ocellus said.
Out of nowhere, the clock chimed once.
“Okay, that was weird,” Ocellus said worriedly. “It’s not even the start of the next hour and it just chimed.”
“Never mind that,” Sandbar said. “There has to be some reason that there was that warning sign and letter. Otherwise, why would there be any of this here. Besides, with monsters and evil ponies trying to harm Equestria every now and then, I’m sure that the survivor might be telling the truth. How about we head back to school? It’s almost curfew.”
“Yeah,” Ocellus said worriedly. “I’m scared.”
“Oh come on,” Gallus said. “Let’s explore. It’ll be fun.”
“But—”
“Don’t be a wimp!”
“I’m not! I’m just being smart!”
“A smart guy would search for clues!”
“A smart guy would be extra cautious and leave if there’s real danger!”
“Oh, stop it you two,” Smolder interrupted. “Let’s just search already!”
“Fine,” Sandbar said in defeat.