//------------------------------// // The Mansion Reappears // Story: Pony Zero: Crimson Fluttershy // by pmcollectorboy //------------------------------// The Mansion Reappears Scootaloo woke up later that night, a jarring vision startling her out of her sleep. Her nightmares had forced a feeling upon her of being in Fluttershy's body, wandering dark, cobwebbed hallways with dusty walls and support beams in shambles. Scootaloo could feel Fluttershy's fear and hear her thoughts as she wandered the halls. Fluttershy's wandering ended when she opened a set of double doors at the end of large room and found herself in a grand courtyard. The courtyard was easily forty five feet across, with something like a slightly raised stage in the middle. In the center of the stage stood a pegasus mare, her coat a ghastly white, almost the complexion of chalk. Jet black hair cascaded down across the whole of the stranger's face, completely obscuring it. As Fluttershy, Scootaloo had tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The stranger lifted her head, and Scootaloo could see that the mare's eyes were little more than gaping black pits. The shock of the unsettling image was enough to send Scootaloo back into the waking world. After she had gathered her wits, shaking off a cold sweat that dampened her sheets, Scootaloo noticed once again that it was almost freezing, and she suspected it was not just from the night terror she had experienced. Throwing her sheets off, she headed to her bedroom window and gazed outside. The lights of Ponyville could no longer be seen. In fact, she could no longer see a Ponyville or any lights at all. There were only a few buildings scattered about with a dark forest beyond them. In the glow of the moonlight, Scootaloo could see a strange mist reaching out from the forest like pale, ghostly fingers. She headed to her parents' bedroom. "Mom? Dad?" she muttered through the crack of the open door. No answer came. As her vision adjusted, Scootaloo saw that her parents' bed lay completely empty. Growing frightened and upset, her legs stiff with nerves, she stumbled down the stairs and outside, shivering slightly when the mist curled around her legs. As she stepped out into the night, she saw nothing but a few decrepit buildings and black pine beyond and in the distance. She glanced around here and there, her fear growing in her heart, looking around for any sign of the Ponyville she once knew as the thick mist gathered around and coalesced even deeper. "Where is everypony?!" she cried. A small, glowing white light, pure in color but dim like moonlight, suddenly appeared among the treeline. Scootaloo couldn't make out any details, but the outline of the light appeared to be roughly the same size and shape as a pony. It also appeared to be getting closer. "Is somepony there?" Scootaloo muttered weakly. A shape darted out of the mist and suddenly pushed her back into the house and dragged her into a closet. "Eep!" she muttered as the closet door closed. "Shh," said a strange young earth pony colt as he pressed a hoof against Scootaloo's mouth. "Don't give away your presence out here." Scootaloo's blood chilled when she heard an unearthly wailing slowly become louder through the walls. It sounded like crying but more protracted and pronounced and definitely eerie. She bit her lips when the same white light in the forest appeared as a small sliver underneath the closet's door crack. "Uuuuuuuooooaaaaaaah," came the wailing. "It sounds like somepony crying," Scootaloo whispered. "Shh." "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" came the wailing again, even louder than before. Scootaloo's companion sucked in a quick breath when the light became brighter. He grabbed at a small stone charm around his neck and started muttering to it. "Dear Celestia. Please protect my friend." Scootaloo buried her eyes into her front hooves, cowering as the wailing continued. Then, quick as it came, the wailing stopped, and even the light at the door faded into darkness. The two sat in the silence for several tense heartbeats before deciding that it was safe to venture out of the closet. "We should be safe now." "What... What WAS that?" Scootaloo gasped, her knees almost buckling. "An angry villager. Do you have a spirit lantern?" "I... What?" Scootaloo sputtered, distracted from her original train of thought. "No." The young colt pulled the stone charm off his neck and hung it on hers. "You do now." Then after a small pause as he looked out of the open front door, he said, "Listen. I have to go find my friend. You actually remind me a little bit of her. Before I go, there is one thing you should know. Trust the butterflies." Scootaloo's mouth hung open as she lost the words to say, instead merely watching her odd friend step out of the open door and into the mist. "Oh one more thing," came the voice of the colt. "Under no circumstances are you to ever give into anguish." With that final utterance, he was gone, and Scootaloo was left alone once more, with nothing but the mist and her terrified heartbeat keeping her company. Stepping out into the night and glancing around once more, she saw that the apparition and her friend were both gone. Deciding it would be safer to keep moving, she steeled her nerves, picked a direction, and headed down a path, with the hope that she would stumble upon her friends. * * * Sweetie Belle's and Apple Bloom's night fared even worse than Scootaloo's. Sweetie Belle was shaken out of her dreams quite roughly by a frantic Apple Bloom, who exclaimed that they were no longer inside Applejack's home at Sweet Apple Acres, that all of Ponyville seemed to have disappeared, and that a terrible commotion seemed to be occurring all around them. The two friends were currently outside, huddling up against a rock to conceal themselves and cowering as they heard the sounds of thundering hooves galloping past with no indication of any crowd or pony making the sounds of running. "What's going on, Apple Bloom? I'm scared." The earth pony filly shook her head. "Ah don't know. Ah think we should head for higher ground. Ah think ah see a house up there on that hill." Sweetie Belle dared a peek over the boulder. Up ahead, barely visible in the mist, she could see the shadowy outline of a large house at the top of a slight incline through the forest. The outline of its roof broke up the space between the trees and what little sky could be seen. It almost seemed jagged and menacing, like it had been built off kilter. "That almost looks like the mansion we saw in our visions. Are you sure it's such a good idea to go there?" "Well we can't stay here," Apple Bloom replied. "We need tah find better shelter and figure out what's goin' on." The two left their hiding spot behind the rock and made a dash for the hill. They pressed on through the trees, trying their best to make their way in the dark, with the forest poorly illuminated by a sickly moon. They stopped at the edge of a small lake situated just a couple hundred yards in front of the mansion. Sweetie Belle fell to her hind quarters in shock when she saw a shimmering white pony hovering just above the water's edge at the far end of the lake. The white pony seemed to be staring up at the front of the mansion, her jaw fallen slack in a look of shock, her eyes wide with seeming terror. She remained silent otherwise. "Do you think she sees us?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom shook her head. Then she turned her head and noticed a slight glow coming from her saddlebag, where she had stashed the Camera Obscura. Getting a notion, Apple Bloom pulled out the strange camera. The filament on the flash was glowing blue. She lifted it up to her eyes and aimed it at the strange image. The filament glowed an even deeper blue. Not wanting to ruin the shot, Apple Bloom took one exhale, willed her fear to subside, tried her best to control her shaky hooves, and slowly pressed the shutter button. Poof! First Victim--An innocent young passerby The strange apparition vanished silently. When all seemed clear, the two made their way over to the mansion. Sweetie Belle gulped down a raw lump when Apple Bloom pushed open the double doors. The rusted hinges creaked as the heavy oak doors slowly swung backwards. A blast of stale air, reeking of rotting timbers and decay, hit them full in their faces, causing the both of them to stumble back and cover their noses. After they had gotten their composures back, they peered into the open gateway, trying to pierce the gloom. "It looks dark in there," Sweetie Belle muttered. "What are we doing here?" "Let's see if we can find a laht switch or at least a gas lamp. Ah'm sort of wingin' it here, so let's just go." Sweetie Belle stifled a small whimper as she followed her friend into the mansion. Apple Bloom found the control valve of a gas lamp on the wall to the left of the door and gave it a turn. Remarkably, a flame shot up, giving the area a respectable amount of light. They found themselves in a foyer, with several doorways all around and one set of stairs leading up. "Any sign of Fluttershy?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Not yet. Lemme try somethin'." Apple Bloom went from door to door, working their handles and pressing up against them. Most were locked except for two--one leading to a hallway at the end and one leading to some kind of study room to her right. She tried the study room first. It was relatively sparse, containing only a writing desk and a small book shelf. She ignored the books and headed for the desk, where she found a letter. My studies have so far yielded very little but I shall NOT give up hope. Several years ago my good friend Shutterbug inherited a rather substantial mansion at the edge of some woods near Tokyoats. It is a beautiful three-story house. She has allowed me to stay in her home rent free to afford me access to an archeological location near her home to study its historical significance and, hopefully, why it has an intriguing lore built up around it. In other news, Shutterbug's young daughter is growing up remarkably pretty. However, Shutterbug is worried over her daughter's emotional development. She seems to be very sensitive and shy, and Shutterbug claims that her daughter has found a friend to talk to inside the mansion, but as far as I know, we are the only residents of the mansion. Perhaps she has invented an imaginary friend. At any rate, tomorrow I shall head out to the nearby village and get some clues on the nature of this strange feature called the Hell Grove. After Apple Bloom got done reading the letter, feeling like she wasn't getting any closer to finding Fluttershy, she heard a muffled scream. Her head shot up from the desk. "Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom heard a blood-chilling wail.