I could hear the three young Colts quietly cheer in excitement.
"The first Pony who gets scared, has to leave," Night Fright explained, motioning to the door behind us. "How about that?" But my mother was too stubborn.
"I don't play games with freaks," she spat.
"There's no need to be rude,” Night Fright said stiffly, pursing his lips.
"Yes, I agree; there is no need to be rude. You have a very lovely home, but I'm afraid we've overstayed our welcome," Derpy was afraid, just not in the way that she meant; she was shaking and fiddling with her tail nervously. "So we're gonna go, okay? Can we go?-" she went silent when Night Fright stomped his hoof on the ground, as if he were telling a dog to stay put.
"Are you gonna leave? Or am I gonna have to hurt you?" Mom asked, glaring at the Stallion who stood in front of her.
Everypony, including me, started whispering among themselves; none of us wanted to hurt him. Most of them only said it out of fear, but I meant it. I had taken Pipsqueak and his friends up to the mansion almost every other day for a little over a week and I had grown to care for him. He had no connection with anything or anypony outside the house, except for us.
Night Fright laughed slightly, "You are trying to scare me," he concluded. "I guess I have no choice; I guess I'll have to scare you. Watch this." He turned around and faced us again, letting out a breath, as if he were nervous. But I could see through his act. "Tell me, do you think this is scary?"
He crossed his eyes and formed his lips into an odd position, making the young Colts laugh. I just chuckled, waiting for my mother's reaction.
"That's ridiculous," she stated, and thought the little Ponies were still giggling, she went on, "that's not funny."
"Okay, fine. What about his one?" He turned his face away for a second, clearing his throat. When he faced us again, he made the same face, holding his arms in a begging dog pose.
Once again the young Colts and I laughed, but the everypony else seemed to be getting impatient.
"Is that it?" Button and Gamechanger's mother asked, rolling her eyes.
"Did that scare you?" Night Fright questioned, staring at Mom.
"Did you hear what I said, freak-circus?" Her response seemed to anger Night Fright. "It's time for you to go."
"Is this scary?" Night Fright stuck his hooves into his mouth, grabbing onto his cheeks. He pulled outward, sticking out his tongue. The skin stretched, revealing the muscles and blood vessels under his skin.
Everypony behind me screamed, while my mouth dropped open in both surprise and astonishment. Even Mom stepped back, startled.
Night Fright released the skin, making it snap back into place, like it was made of rubber. He fastened his hooves onto his bottom jaw and yanked it down, farther and farther. Everypony was terrified, even I felt the fear grow in the pit of my stomached. But I didn't let it show on my face. My mouth was still gaping, but I closed it, still looking at the sight before me.
He placed his right hoof under his chin and tugged on the skin, completely removing it and everything else, leaving only his bare skull. He then held out his face for us to see, laughing wickedly.
Another round of screams erupted from the crowd, before they ran to the door, even my mother ran as if her life depended on it. But I stood still, my hooves glued to the ground in shock. Mom didn't even try to pull me along with her; she would have left me there just so she could escape. I knew my eyes were close to the size of saucers, but my gaze was unwavering as I stared at Night Fright.
He had never done anything like that before; it was always just little funny tricks. But Mother had pushed him too far, and he wasn't going to stop until he won the game.
He brought his hooves up and smashed his skull, only to have his face, skin and all, pop out.
The others were still running to the large old-fashioned doors as he stared at me curiously. But he broke our eye contact and the doors slammed shut, making them stop in their tracks.
Girlish whimpers came from a Stallion in the crowd, but Night Fright acted as if he didn't notice.
"Are we going somewhere? Hello?" He called.
I turned to look at the other Ponies and saw Mom turn around slowly, fear obvious in her eyes.
"It's too late, you're my guests," Night Fright continued, smiling innocently and stroking his mane. "And by the way, did I tell you that I wasn't alone?"
He raised his right hoof up suddenly, and the glass patio doors swung open, their curtains blowing in the chilling wind. The fireplace and torches on the walls flared, their flames growing.
"Meet the family."
He spun around, sending a clear watery orb into the fireplace. The flames grew even higher, and out of them flew a shape which looked like the little orb. It formed itself into the figure of a Stallion, dressed in extremely old styled clothing, who bowed to us.
Night Fright made those tiny orbs fly all over the room and soon it was filled with Stallions and Mares, all wearing torn clothed from presumably two to the three hundreds years ago.
When I tried to look Night Fright in the eyes again, I found out that they held a crazed look, as if he had gone mad.
The adult Ponies seemed to be scared stiff, yet the younger Ponies were smiling. I didn't know how to feel. It was interesting how he made his family appear like that, but if what he had done didn't make my mother surrender to the game, than Night Fright would have to try harder to frighten her, and I don't know how far she would go to protect herself. I didn't like my Mother much, but I didn't want to have to attend a funeral.
Night Fright faced us once more and yelled, throwing his legs into the air. He did it several times as he and his relative began to approach us.
His steps were smooth, and his body was in perfect rhythm. It almost seemed as if he were.....dancing.
His movements stopped and he stood still, glaring at Mom. Suddenly, his hooves flew to his upper arms, causing dust to fly everywhere. The others copied his actions, as he wiped dust from his shoulder and coughed once.
One of the Stallions began to cough out of line, making them stomp their hooves. A Mare sneezed, getting the same reaction. Everything then went silent.
After a moment, Night Fright stomped his left hoof, then his right. Slowly, he sprinkled dirt from his ears. It seemed like a silent signal. He and my mother stared each other down, until Night Fright started to move around again.
Music echoed through the room as they all started to turn in circles, as the Ponies just watched in confusion. With one final shout, Night Fright and his companions started to full-out dance.
Their moves were amazing; I had never seen anything like it. They paused before Night Fright shrugged his shoulders, huffing in the process. They all copied him. When he repeated his actions, they repeated theirs.
After three repetitions, Night Fright began to sing. His soft voice flowed through the air, sending a shiver down my spine.
Look who just walked in the place. Dead and stuffy in the face. Woo!
Look who's standin' if you please. Though, tried to bring me to my knees.
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
Hell all up in Canterlot. Sayin' that you got the plot.
Creepin' from a dusty hole. Tales of what somepony told.
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you scream and shout it?
Too bad, too bad about it. Why don't you just scream and shout it?
He was mesmerizing as his hooves glided across the tiled floor. It seemed so natural to him, as if he didn't even have to try. I could see that everyone was amazed, some were still frightened, but they were all in awe. Mother just looked at them icily. They finished dancing, or so we thought. Night Fright's friends started to venture closer to the crowd as they danced, making some of the Ponies cry out in fear.
They walked up walls and jumped down, but one went right through. To cover up his mistake, he struck a pose, and a smile tugged at my lips. Night Fright shouted again, and his friends all began to stomp as they walked, heading toward the walls once more. They continued to stomp, even when they were climbing, but instead of jumping down, they went all the way to the ceiling, as if they did it every day.
When they were all on, only Night Fright was left on the ground. He gazed at Mom before lifting his arms. At that one motion, the Ponies who were on the ceiling slowly floated down, the music turned light and angelic and we all stared at them, dazed by the beauty in front of us.
When the heavenly sounds stopped, I grew worried. It wasn't going to end well.