The Cutie Mark Crusaders swaggered down the dirt roads of Ponyville, their bags were filled with delicious sweets and goodies of all kinds. Chocolate, hard candies, pastries, caramel apples, and sour candies. You named it, and it was in one of their large bags. Scootaloo stopped abruptly, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom did the same. "Crusaders," she started. "What houses are left?"
"Ah think that's all of 'em, Scootaloo." replied Apple Bloom solemnly, a saddened face stretched across her muzzle. Sweetie Belle nodded, supporting Apple Bloom's theory. "She's right, I think we've done every house in Ponyville!" Scootaloo lowered one of her eyebrows and raised the other. "Not every one," The orange filly said through gritted teeth. The other two knew what she meant, though they wished they didn't.
"I dare you to go into the house on the edge!" said Scootaloo competitively, spreading her wings before returning them to her sides. Sweetie Belle backed away as Apple Bloom began to shrink closer to the ground. "No! You know what they say about what's inside there!" responded the white 'dictionary' as she made a face of fear. Scootaloo chuckled a bit. "I double dare you!" challenged the tangerine foal. "Nuh uh!" was the only response she got in return.
"Triple dare!" Scootaloo escalated the pressure even more. Still, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom backed away more and shook their heads. "Fine! You had to make me do this." responded Scoots. "QUADRUPLE DARE!" she yelled, putting on a victorious grin. The two other fillies gulped down their saliva and stared at the small wooden house on the edge of the cliff, a frown setting on their faces. "Fine, we'll do it!" responded a scared yet compelled Apple Bloom as she put her bag on the ground.
Sweetie Belle also dropped her bag of sweets, then began to trot slowly towards the bottom of the hill. Apple Bloom followed, and so did Scootaloo. "Look, I'll even go with you!" reassured the orange Pegasus, dropping her candy luggage where she stood. "It'll be fun!" Apple Bloom made a weird look at Scoots, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I guess it could be fun..." she said reluctantly.
The Crusaders found themselves standing in front of a small house, constructed mainly of wood and hay. The windows were boarded up behind the torn curtains that swayed in the light breeze outside. Apple Bloom gulped again, turning her head upwards towards the roof of the house. "Everypony ready?" asked Scootaloo. "Ah guess so..." responded a frightened Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle simply nodded, signalling the tangerine Pegasus to open the door.
As the door creaked open, it revealed... nothing. It was just an empty house, filled with dusty objects. The three fillies stepped in one by one wearing curious faces. Why wasn't anything in there? There were rumors of horrors, abominations, and who knows what lurking in the shadows of the old shack, yet all they seen were old sofas and broken tables.
Hello.
"Who's there?!" responded a horrified Apple Bloom as she shrunk to the floor.
That is not important.
The Crusaders backed away slowly before dashing for the exit. "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE, GIRLS!" shouted Scootaloo as they charged for the door. The rickety wooden passage was slammed in their faces by an unknown force.
NO!
You are not to leave...
The three fillies were paused in fear.
Ever.
Apple Bloom sunk directly to the ground, covering her head with her hooves. The other two sobbed, looking all around the house. "Let us out!" demanded Scootaloo as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Heh, I don't think so.
You're mine now. All mine.
"You wish, bub!" Scootaloo yelled angrily at the voice as she helped Apple Bloom off the ground. C'mon girls, let's find this guy and show him what we're made of!" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded reluctantly, and the three began to trot through the doorway to their right. As they went inside, they found themselves in a room with a long table in the center. A dining room, maybe?
Ignoring their thoughts on where they were, they began to note what was there. The room wasn't wide, but was quite long. The mahogany table in the center was decorated with candles and vases of flowers, vintage oak chairs with red cushions lining the edges. A painting sat on the far wall, a painting of a hill. The green grass blowing in the wind as the sun set on the horizon. It made them think of home.
Admiring my painting? The voice echoed throughout the house.
The three fillies were at silence.
Don't worry, I can take constructive criticism.
Scootaloo wiped a tear from her eye, then signaled for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to follow her into the next room. This room was more of a living room, or a den. Someplace someone would settle down and relax. Sweetie Belle instantly took the opportunity and jumped onto the soft sofa that rested in the corner.
Don't rest now, you have more exploring to do.
Sweetie stayed put.
I said, get up. Now.
The snow white Unicorn jumped up from her seat.
Good. Now keep going.
The Crusaders continued into another room with an old bed and a nightstand. Perhaps a guest bedroom? They looked around only to find a shelf on the wall decorated with dozens of medals, trophies, and awards. "Wow..." marveled Apple Bloom as she carefully touched one of the golden trophies. It's plaque was covered in dust and grime, and the light yellow Earth Pony couldn't make out what it was for.
Please stop touching my flying trophies with your dirty hooves.
Apple Bloom quickly darted her hooves away from the award, almost knocking it over.
HEY! Careful.
The yellow filly whimpered, then waited for Scootaloo's signal to go to the next room. "Scootaloo, ah don't like this room. Can we keep going?" asked a frightened Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle nodded to the jasmine foal. "Yeah, it's really creepy." she remarked, wearing a concerned face. Scoots looked back on the two scared ponies behind her. "Fine, let's go to the next room."
The three fillies stepped into the next room, immediately noticing a strange stench lingering throughout the room. "Ugh, what's that smell?" complained Scootaloo as she wrinkled her snout. The smell was foreign, a smell that the Crusaders didn't know. Most other ponies probably wouldn't recognize it either.
Apple Bloom spotted another painting, this time on the right wall. It looked like abstract art, strange shapes were made out of many different colors. The colors were very bright, and very captivating. Apple Bloom took her eyes away from the painting and fixated them on a few chairs in the corner. These seats looked different. They were poorly made, and also carried that strange scent that appeared when they entered the room.
The Crusaders tried to ignore the rancid stench that floated through the room, although it wasn't that easy. It always managed to find it's way back into their noses, poisoning their taste buds with an iron-like flavor. That damned repulsive smell, the thing that repelled them, yet drew them further in. Further in to the house on the edge. Further in to the belly of the beast.
You've been awful silent for quite a while.
The trio of blank flanks still held their face of fear, although they didn't acknowledge the mysterious voice that echoed throughout the small house. They were too focused on what room they were in, what was in the room, and why the house wasn't actually that scary, except for the fact that the house appeared to be inhabited around the same time Pinkie Pie disappeared.
That stench. That awful, awful stench.
"Alright, let's head to the next room girls." suggested Scootaloo hastily. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded, and the three continued through to the next room.
You get closer, little fillies. Closer to your surprise.
The horrible smell's intensity only escalated as they entered the new room, it's grotesque, repulsing presence made the little fillies gag. Their mouths tasted of diluted iron and salt, and their noses remained wrinkled tightly. As they managed to gain an idea of what this room was, they declared it a library. Large mahogany bookshelves stocked with thousands of books lined the walls of the massive room.
As the fillies continued to walk through the room, grossly contaminated air was the only thing that was truly clear to them. Each step they took made the smell intensify, each step bringing the fillies closer to vomiting. Books covered in a sort of red paint lay on a medium-sized table that stood place in the center of the library. Looking closer at the table, titles were visible. "Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone" and "The Running Mare" sat messily on top of the rest, along with an untitled journal page.
Apple Bloom moved in even closer and squinted, trying to read the note that sat in front of her.
"Oh Goddess, the nightmares... I'm bucking insane by now..." the yellow filly read aloud, the other two curiously gathered around her. "But whatever, eh? The deed is done, no po-" Apple Bloom cut off, noticing that the red paint covered the rest of the note's content. AB slowly backed away, accidentally bumping into Scootaloo on her way back. "What the hay was that all 'bout?" questioned a curious yet frightened jasmine Earth Pony.
Hmm?
Ah, I see you've found my note.
"W-what's the 'deed'?" stuttered a terrified Sweetie Belle as she stared at the ceiling, assuming that the voice was emanating from there.
Oh, you'll find out soon.
The Crusaders made a scared face at the ground floor ceiling.
They continued to the next room, only to have the horrific smell grow more atrocious. Sweetie Belle's face turned green as she swallowed the vomit that pushed itself up her throat, covering her mouth with her hoof just in case. The other two were not fairing much better with the monstrous stench creeping into their noses. More of that red paint was there, splattered all over the far wall, where chains hung unused from the leather straps that mounted into the brick behind it.
This room was different from all the rest they visited in their short journey throughout the rather small excuse for a house. It's aura was strange, foreign. Just like the stench, except much more subtle. The three fillies whimpered as the feeling that something was wrong spread into their bodies one by one. This room was unsettling, maybe even disturbing. They wanted out of it. They wanted out of it now.
One by one, the fillies tightly filtered into another room, this one smaller than the rest. Hanging from the ceiling was a small chandelier, decorated with genuine diamonds and polished gold. The candle in the center of the hanging light burned brightly, shining away most of the darkness and revealing a narrow staircase behind it.
Maybe this horrible pony was up there, the one who did this to them. They were very determined to find out. Scootaloo signaled to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to follow her, filing up the stairs one by one. Each step they took stepped up the level of the repulsive scent that flooded a lot of the house. Sweetie Belle nearly vomited again, along with the other two. They then continued up the stairs until finally reaching the top.
The stench was almost at it's peak, forcing Sweetie Belle to vomit on the floor, the greenish-yellow fluid sputtering and spatting as it impacted against the floor. Strangely, she couldn't smell the foul liquid on the ground that just exited her mouth. Neither could the others. All they could smell was the horrible irony scent of the air that surrounded them. Scootaloo hacked and coughed, almost coughing up puke as she did so. Apple Bloom gagged, took a quick breath, and gagged some more.
In highest attempts to endure, the three slowly made their way to the left. The smell started to dissipate slightly as they continued to nudge sideways, until the eventually reached a door. The three fillies stopped in unison. "Girls?" began Sweetie Belle, still trying to spit out the sticky mess that the vomit left inside her mouth. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tilted their heads and looked towards their friend as she looked at the large doorway in front of her. "Should we open it?"
Scoots and AB nodded simultaneously, and Sweetie Belle creaked open the door. Inside the room was just a small bed wedged into the room's corner, accompanied by an equally small nightstand with a candle resting on top of it. Just a simple, everyday bedroom. Nothing scary or insane inside. The three fillies shrugged and carefully turned to the next door to the left of the bedroom they had just revealed.
With a bit of reluctance, Sweetie Belle opened it. The room behind it appeared to just be a washing room, where cloths, towels, oven mittens and more were piled messily in a bin. Next to the bin was a long stick nailed into the floor, a long string and a simple machine tied to it. Outside of the hole, facecloths with red stains hung from the clothesline freely, blowing in the cool midnight breeze.
The trio stepped out of the room, then turned to the final door, to the right of the bedroom. Sweetie Belle looked back on the other two, who made worried faces. "Ready?" she asked. "Ready." Said Scootaloo and Apple Bloom in unison. Sweetie took a deep breath, then slowly breathed out. "Three." she began. "Two. One." The two other fillies braced themselves, and as the door swung open, their mouths were left agape.
Pinkie Pie, or what used to be Pinkie Pie, hung from chains on the wall, completely dead. The three blank flanks now knew what that red paint was. What that stench was. They wished they didn't. The three girls screamed for a split second, vomited on the floor, then continued to scream. Dashing as fast as they could, they ran for the door on the other end of the hallway.
Hahahaha...
The voice echoed as they sprinted desperately to the other end of the narrow hallway.
HAHAHAHAHA!
Tears streamed from the girls' eyes.
GIGGLE AT THE GHOSTIE! HAHAHAH!
They ran, ran, ran, finally ending up at the doorway at the edge of the hallway.
GUFFAW AT THE GROSSLY- HAHAHAH!
It's sickening maniacal laughter continued as it sung.
CRACK UP- AHAHAAHA!- AT THE CREEPY!
In one quick slam, the door busted open, revealing the silhouette of a Pegasus mare. "WOOF IT UP WITH THE WEEP- HAAAAHAHAHEHEHE!" It sung loudly with an accompanied psychopathic laugh. The three little fillies screamed, dashing back towards the staircase. They were downstairs in a flash, darting throughout the maze of rooms to get to the exit. Where they'd finally be safe. Where they'd finally get home.
Room by room, they could hear the insane pony gaining on them little by little. "CHORTLE... AT THE COOKY! HEHEHEHE!" the voice sung, being heard throughout the whole house, Pinkie Pie's song being tarnished by a crazed Pegasus. Scootaloo got lost in her train of thought as she quickly was recalled of what happened.
Pinkie Pie.
Why did it have to be her?
Ponyville's favorite party pony?
Scootaloo shook the thought out of her head. She could mourn later. Right now, she needed to get herself and the Crusaders out of there. Suddenly,
Bang.
Quickly looking ahead of themselves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders found themselves in front of a heavy wooden door. After a split second of staring, they determined what it was. They had found the exit. "SNORTLE AT THE SPOOKY! HAHEHEHEHE!" The voice rang behind them. Quickly scrambling to their hooves, they charged at the door, attempting to open it. It was to no avail.
Locked.
They continued the struggle to open the door. They could hear the clattering of hoofsteps behind them. Eventually, they found themselves punching the door. "HELP US! LET US OUT!" screamed Sweetie Belle as she continued to smash her hooves into the door.
The hoofsteps slowed, but got more audible.
Eventually, the clattering stopped.
Slowly turning around, they found the Pegasus mare standing behind them.
They let out a shill cry, a sliver of rainbow and the glint of stainless steel being the last thing they seen.