//------------------------------//
// The House 
// Story: The House on the Hill 
// by BradyBunch 
//------------------------------//

“A... house?” Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head.

A massive structure was imposed among the barren trees surrounding it. The mansion was proud and black, but squat, with only two levels and a thin tower at the far right corner. The only entrance was a gate, where six ponies stood together.

“Darling, calling this a house is like calling the sea a lake,” Rarity informed her, examining the windows critically. They were as dusty and cracked as the bricks they were built in. “If it was restored, it would look absolutely marvelous! I can’t imagine how anyone would abandon this place!”

“Well, ain’t that why we’re here?” Applejack remarked.

“The mayor spoke to me,” Twilight Sparkle said, taking charge. “Twelve unicorns have disappeared in Ponyville over the last month. They were all heading towards this house on this hill.”

“...I don’t suppose that means we can go back home now, can we?” Rarity despondently assumed.

“No,” Twilight refuted with an arm swish. “Unless we find out why, the problem will just keep happening.”

“Oh, n-n-no… we have to go inside?” Fluttershy whimpered, already shivering, but not from the cold wind blowing her mane and tail.

“I don’t like this either,” Twilight told Fluttershy firmly. “But the town is depending on us to investigate.”

With a chime of her horn, the gates swung open with an rusty squeak. They advanced into the courtyard, casting their eyes about nervously. Dried-up, dirty stone fountains were on their left and right, and the ground was cracked and eroded. The setting sun cast their surroundings in a diluted black. Leaves on the ground swirled about as the wind blew, and whistles came from the cracks in the home, sounding eerily like haunting spirits.

Though some were too proud to admit it, a sense of dread loomed over them all as they approached the door as one. It was splintered and peeling, eaten by mold near the rusty hinges.

“I’m not sure there’ll be a bellhop waiting to greet us, you think?” Rarity remarked.

“What if we rang?” Pinkie suggested.

“It could awaken an ages-long slumber of an ancient creature!” Fluttershy shivered, shrinking into herself.

“C’mon, it’s no big deal!” Rainbow proclaimed, jabbing at the door. “Here, I’ll prove it!”

“No, wait!” Twilight tried to say, but Rainbow was already flying like an arrow. With a crunch, the door split in half and busted wide open, revealing a darkened hallway they could not see the end of.

Upon seeing the looks she was given, Rainbow shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

Rainbow hovered near the doorway as the rest of the ponies made their way inside one by one. When the last one, Fluttershy, finally crept inside, she brought up the rear. And save for the little light outside, there was nothing to illuminate the hallway.

“Hey, Twi! Why aren’t you doing that flashlight thing?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight, for her part, had a fearful expression frozen on her. She was obviously straining, and so was Rarity, but nothing came out of their horns.

“I… can’t!” she exclaimed. “There’s nothing! My magic is being blocked!”

“Mine too!” Rarity wailed, massaging her bony horn.

“This house is haunted!” Fluttershy panicked, and turned as if to rush for the door. But the broken door, with a symphony of splintering creaks, repaired itself as if played in reverse and slammed shut before Fluttershy could reach it.

In an instant, the house became pitch black. Six screams filled the dark, musty air.