Dinky gasped, and Sparkler hurtled into action. This hadn’t been part of her plan!
She stumbled up the stairs, and hammered her hooves against the door. “Hey! Who’s there?”
The only answer was laughter.
Sparkler reared up to batter the door again. “Let us out, you little monsters!”
Behind her, Dinky’s horn spluttered into pale, wavering light, just enough to see Dinky’s frightened expression.
Hastily, Sparkler beckoned her up. Foals got scared often, she knew that. Foals that hadn’t spent every night of their lives cold and alone became afraid when they were trapped in the dark. Sparkler needed to comfort Dinky. “It’ll be alright,” she said, her voice uncertain though her words were reassuring. Unless their mysterious captors took pity on them, she had no idea how she could get them out of this. Still, she could at least provide a little more illumination. She sent her own pink magic spiralling out to join Dinky’s yellow light, and the cellar became that little bit less creepy.
This time a voice answered from behind the door, just a whisper. “Diamond, do you think we should—?”
“No!” the second stranger hissed immediately. “Shut up! You’ll ruin the prank, Silver Spoon!”
“We can hear you!” Sparkler snapped. “Now unlock this door!”
There was a pause. Then — “No,” answered the second voice. “It’s Nightmare Night; trick or treat. And you just got tricked.”
“Diamond!” implored the first speaker. “We can’t just leave them here!”
“Can so!” retorted Diamond, who Sparkler recognised at last as that odious little foal in Dinky’s class. “And I’m going right now. You can either come with me to the party in town, or stay here with them. What’s it going to be, Silver Spoon?”
“For Celestia’s sake!” swore Sparkler, shocking all the younger foals into silence. “Let us out right now!”
Malicious giggles and the sound of fleeing hooves was her only answer.
Fruitlessly, Sparkler slammed herself against the door again and again, anger flooding white-hot through her. She had planned it all so meticulously, and suddenly the rug had been pulled from under her hooves. Dinky would never want to hang out with her again if they spent the night trapped in a cellar.
Panting hard, Sparkler paused, and looked down at her sister. Lit up by the golden glow of her own magic, Dinky looked pale and shaken. As they made eye contact, Dinky flinched slightly, and Sparkler realised to her horror that Dinky’s nervousness stemmed not from their situation, but from Sparkler herself.
At once, Sparkler forced herself into stillness. “Um — sorry,” she said uncertainly. “I didn’t mean to — I wasn’t really angry.”
“Th-that’s okay,” answered Dinky anxiously. “I know them both; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They’re jerks. You get used to it.”
Sparkler gave a strained laugh. “Yeah.” She shut her eyes for a moment and took a breath. She needed to be the big sister. A role she was still horribly new to. But she had to fill it. There was no other option. A plan formed, and her eyes snapped open again. “Okay. I bet we can find an exit if we try hard enough. A window at ground level, maybe.” Basements often had those, didn’t they?
“Good idea!” Dinky’s enthusiasm returned, and she bounded back down the stairs, hooves loud on the wooden planks.
A thorough search of the basement ensued. While it was deliciously creepy and full of cobwebs, and would have fulfilled Sparkler’s original plan for the evening perfectly, there was not a window to be found. Only damp corners and half-rotted broomsticks.
There was no way out.