//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Ruined Canvas 
// by Canterlot Landfill 
//------------------------------//

	“Wait up, you guys!” Scootaloo’s twin reflections in Diamond Tiara’s binoculars ran off into the forest. 
“Perfect.” Diamond Tiara grinned from behind the large boulder. She lowered the binoculars, still looking into the trees. A crash from behind caused Diamond Tiara to whip around. Silver Spoon burst through the foliage. She fell to her face, the culprit vine holding a death grip on her back hoof. She pulled herself from the dirt, adjusting her skewed glasses. 
“…What’s perfect?” Silver Spoon asked. 
Diamond Tiara dropped the binoculars, allowing them to hang from her neck. “What took you? I told you to grab the stuff and hurry here!” 
Silver Spoon fought with the troublesome vine, tangling herself even more. “I got lost.”
“I gave you a map!” 
Silver Spoon stopped fumbling with the vine, and looked at her friend. “I knew I forgot something.” 
“Ugh! Useless! Forget it, come here.” Diamond Tiara pulled Silver Spoon from the vines and pressed the binoculars to her face. Pointing out towards the chateau, Diamond Tiara said, “Look. That’s what’s perfect. Don’t you see? The perfect plan.” 
Silver Spoon glanced at her friend, then peered through the binoculars, her eyes transforming into dinner plates through the lenses. Diamond Tiara chuckled to herself at her own brilliance, waiting for Silver Spoon to understand the scope of the plan. 
A minute passed. Then two. 
Diamond Tiara’s smile cracked and faded. She lowered her arm down, and glared at her friend. Silver Spoon continued to look out towards the expansive forest-scape. Unwavering. Unflinching. She did not stare into the forest, but rather through it. The gaze of a pony completely engrossed in what she was doing. A fly wandered across her face, not differentiating between the pony, and an inanimate object.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Well? Do you see it or not?” 
“I see a frog. Are we catching frogs?” Silver Spoon looked at her friend with complete and utter conviction in her assumption of frog catching. A disgusted Diamond Tiara looked back. 
“No, doofus, look over there!” Diamond Tiara repositioned her friend over towards the Everfree Chateau. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle walked down the path, stopping now and again to admire a piece of architecture, black and rotting. 
“Oh…those guys.” Silver Spoon spun the wheel in on the CMC. 
“Yes, them. Now do you see what I have planned?” Diamond Tiara rubbed her hooves together, a gleeful smile returning to its post. 
Silver Spoon return Diamond Tiara’s smile with one of her own. “Oh, now I see. You’re right, this is the perfect plan.” 
“Now you see what I have cooked up.” Diamond Tiara said. 
“Yeah, with their help, we can catch even more frogs.” At this, Silver Spoon rubbed her hooves together. Chuckles emancipated from her at the thought of wrangling the amphibians. “So, what do we do f-,” Diamond Tiara cut off her voice with her hoof in her mouth. Silver Spoon looked at her friend. A vein pulsated on Diamond Tiara’s forehead
“Stop…talking...” She removed her hoof, and turned and began to rummage through Silver Spoon’s saddlebags. “Did you get what I asked you to?” 
“Yeah, but I don’t see why we need this stuff. Some old sheets and a camera? What are those for?” Silver Spoon cocked her head. 
Diamond Tiara gritted her teeth together. “Well…since you don’t get it YET,” Diamond Tiara shot a glare at Silver Spoon "… allow me to explain it to you…AS SLOWLY …as I can.” She pulled out the sheets, and a pair of scissors. As she cut holes, she spoke, “So, when somepony goes into a haunted house, what do they expect to see?” Without looking up, Diamond Tiara pointed at Silver Spoon with the scissors.
"Oh!” Silver Spoon, startled, looked up in desperate thought. She glanced to the trees for assistance. “Um…ghosts?” 
Diamond Tiara resumed cutting holes. “So, when that somepony sees said ghosts, they’re bound to be scared...” Silver Spoon jumped at how quickly Diamond Tiara looked up. “Right?” 
“Oh…right.” Silver Spoon smiled. 
Diamond Tiara threw the first sheet behind her. As she worked on the second, she said, “So, when somepony brave like Applebloom or Scootaloo gets scared, it’s embarrassing for them, right?” 
“Of course!” 
Diamond Tiara said nothing. She finished the sheet, folded it, and placed it with the other one. She turned and started rummaging through the other saddle bag. “Now, with all of that in mind, wouldn’t it be just horrible,” A smile broke out on Diamond Tiara’s face. She spun around. A bright flash erupted from her hooves, blinding the unprepared Silver Spoon. 
“Agh!” Silver Spoon raised a hoof to shield her eyes. As she rubbed her eyes, she heard a click and a whirr. 
“If something like that got out?”  Diamond Tiara looked down at the photograph in her hoof. Silver Spoon, hoof shielding her eyes, began to appear. She let loose a small chuckle.
“So…” Silver Spoon said while rubbing her eyes. “Let me get this straight.” Diamond Tiara looked at her friend, smile fading. 
“We’re going to take a picture of Applebloom and Scootaloo…”
“Yes.”
“While they’re scared…”
“Right.” 
Silver Spoon took off her glasses, picked up one of the sheets, and put it over her head. “Dressed like this.” She said. She put her glasses on over the sheet. 
“Yes, I know. A perfect plan.” Diamond Tiara put the camera back in the saddle bag. 
“That’s kinda lame.” 
Diamond Tiara stopped, and whirled around. “What? No it isn’t!”
“Also, where are we going to find a haunted house? There’s none for miles.” Silver Spoon began to look around. “Do you see one? I don’t.” 
Diamond Tiara put her hoof in her forehead. “Look behind you.” 
Silver Spoon turned. “What, I don’t see anything.” 
“You don’t see the massive house in the distance?” 
“No, I…oh wait, yeah. Yeah, I do.” 
“That, my dear Silver Spoon, is the Everfree Chateau. Only the most haunted house in all of Eqe-”
Silver Spoon jumped in the air. “Wait! We’re going into the EVERFREE CHAT-?”
Dimond Tiara jammed a silencing hoof into Silver Spoon’s mouth. “Shhhhhhh…” 
Silver Spoon’s voice echoes through the marsh, reverberating off of rocks, encircling trees, and flying over mud. Birds flew from their perches at the offensive sound. Crickets ceased their chirping. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked up as birds soared over head, sounding their agitation. From far beyond the bushes came “Did you guys hear that?” Muffled replies followed, too quiet to discern. 
Diamond Tiara looked back down at Silver Spoon. “Yes, we’re going into the Everfree Chateau. You…and me.” 
From around Diamond Tiara’s hoof came, “But there are ghosts in there.” 
Diamond Tiara removed her hoof. She wiped it off on Silver Spoon’s sheet. “No, there are no such things as ghosts. We’re just using the location to our advantage. See?” 
“Oh…right…” Silver Spoon looked down at the earth, not convinced.
“Now pick up these things. We have to beat them into the chateau.” Diamond Tiara looked out towards the Chateau as Silver Spoon began to repack the saddle bags. A large grin broke out on her face. “Nothing like a little blackmail to brighten up your day, eh Applebloom?”