Haunted Pleasure

by Barracuda cyborg


What a night for a fright!

Fluttershy has never liked Nightmare Night.

Every year when she was a foal she saw ponies in their costumes, walking about with smiles on their faces. She went out, participated in the festivities at that age. She was happy.

But one night changed everything. She was frightened by three big colts, who jumped at her in full costume. Their teeth were showing, jagged and pointy; shrouds were black, their face covered by its void; and their eyes glowed red just enough to not illuminate the rest of their heads.

She never wanted to go outside again after that, Nightmare Night spooked her inside.This protection has given her misconceptions of the costumes. Three years ago, Fluttershy had somepony come to her door. They rang the itty-bitty bell. It ringed and ringed, but she could not come for even a spell. She was afraid. Then, the filly asked if anypony was home.

She couldn’t deny that call. She meandered over to the door, her teeth chattered as she wrapped her left fore hoof around the handle. She gently swung it open to reveal a filly, dressed up as a cute pink fairy. But this chilled her to the bone.

She saw the fairy as a pony and a fairy: two separate entities with costumes of themselves.

Last year, Fluttershy had trained her mind to think that way to the point that she resorted to buying extra supplies before locking herself up in her home.

However, Fluttershy really liked to think about it.

The decorations, the happy faces, her frien—

Her friends.

They always gushed about it after the whole event goes down…
____________________________________________________________________
“This year’s party was better than last years!”

“Why is that Pinkie?”

“Celestia gave me her special candy she gives to her favorite ponies! I got an abundance of boxes of Lucky Charms™!”

“Pinkie, what are Lucky Char—?”

“Don’t question that Rarity, you’ll never get a real answer.”
____________________________________________________________________
“This year was fine… for the most part.”

“Why is that, Applejack?”

“Because that colorful varmint with wings almost got us in trouble with Bon-Bon!”

“Did she try to use the unoriginal lightni-”

“It’s not unoriginal!”

“...”

“She tried to scare the foals with it, but made Bon-Bon jump out of her skin, causing Diamond Tiara to get showered in melted chocolate.”

“Sounds like a great victory rather than getting in trouble!”

“SPIKE!”
____________________________________________________________________
“Did you see what Davenport had outside his shop?”

“He wasn’t selling any quills and sofas?”

“Quiet, Spike.”

“...”

“What did he have outside his shop, Rainbow?”

“Glad you asked Twi’! He had a ouija board!”

“Ouija Board?”

“You mean the thing that moves around?”

“AJ, a lot of things move around, like you, for example.”

“...”

“As I was saying, he had a ouija board for sale!”

“Did you buy it?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“I-I wouldn’t.”

“Fluttershy, why not?”

“I don’t like…”

“I don’t like scary things…” Fluttershy looks at the clock.

The clock strikes three.

“Better get ready for tonight’s festivities…” Fluttershy said, her voice trailing off. This definitely was another night to forget about those walking costumes. She didn’t want them in her head. To forget this, Fluttershy had to make a new event, one that would still allow her to get her spook on, yet not get attacked by those… costumes of death.

Fluttershy and Angel hoisted a banner over their sofa, sporting the words ‘Increase your Psychic Powers Day!’ in varying hues and contrasts. The day when one asks a simple wooden board their very happenings that they would want to figure out. Fluttershy loved this very concept: a quiet place to think and communicate without speaking words. It was a time of taking something unpredictable and making it predictable. The very thought of it made Fluttershy shiver to the bone. It was a momentous occasion.

After hoisting the large banner, Fluttershy and Angel took heed of the day’s importance by preparing the board for questioning. Fluttershy took it with great care as she slid the board out of its wooden casement, being careful that she did not scratch the black letterings that adorned the piece of art. She placed it gently on the table, while Angel stared from a distance. The spooky oak board with its polished wording, it was spooky enough just to see, but there was something missing...

Fluttershy looked in the box again. She must have missed an important piece…

Fluttershy gasped and swiftly grabbed the missing piece to the puzzle: the planchette. The little plank with its gracious circular hole gives the ouija board its voice, its true haunted spirit. No one knows how it moves, but most say it is just magic. On the other hoof, Fluttershy and Angel knew magic and they don’t see any aura around it…

Fluttershy placed the important piece on the board, the plank landing gently on the letter ‘O’.

She sighed, the board is finally ready.

“Are you ready to play, Angel?”

Her rabbit friend nodded enthusiastically, hopping on top of the table to get a better view.

Fluttershy smiled. Even back then, she had a secret love for this board. That’s why when Rainbow mentioned it…

…she just had to ask if it was still in stock.

The two look at the board, not worried about anything else but it.

Angel turned his attention to Fluttershy and nudged her.

“What is it?”

He pointed at the board.

“Oh, you want me to go first?”

He nodded once again.

“A-Alright…”

Fluttershy looked at the board and asked her question...

...it just happened to be the question that counters her very existence...

“Will I have somepony knock on my door?” She asked the board, hoping that it would say no.

It began to move to the letter ‘I’ to the letter ‘N’ and so on until it said the phrase ‘In a few seconds’. Suddenly there was a knock on the door causing Fluttershy to squeak in fear as she ran under some sheets.  Angel just had a look saying ‘Seriously? on all days...’ As he walked towards the door he opened it to show Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Angel, is Fluttershy home?” she asked as Angel pointed towards a pile of shivering sheets in the back of the room.

Rainbow took this in stride as she walked cautiously into the comfy abode. enters, she spots the shivering sheets of white and grey that Angel pointed at. The sheets shake in a disharmonic manner as if

Getting that dreaded simile out of her head, Rainbow walked forward and pulled the sheets with her teeth which unveiled the very scared and afraid Fluttershy quaking, her head stuffed underneath a rather small pillow.

“Fluttershy…”

The pillow whimpered.

“Fluttershy.”

The pillow quaked.

“Fluttershy!”

The pegasus launched into the air along with her pillow which ricocheted off the chandelier that was awkwardly placed above the soft, layered sheets on the ground. Fluttershy hit her head on the ceiling, while the expensive chandelier landed on the soft sheet, shattering into pieces. Rainbow Dash rushed to her friend’s aid, the cyan wings fluttered up while she wrapped her foreleg around the dazed and confused mare.

“Are you okay, Flutters?” Rainbow asked, concerned of her friend’s physical being.

The poor mare mentioned looked at Rainbow, her eyes crossed. “I’m fine,” she muttered, her voice slurred. “F-fine.”

“Are you sure,” Rainbow replied, waving a hoof in front of her friend. “Because you sound a little off.” Rainbow waited with her forehooves crossed. She was not buying into this wacky misadventure.

“Oh I’m fine.” Fluttershy said shaking her head, “I thought I saw Angels flying about.”

Angel soon looked confused, ~Wait there’s more me’s that can fly?~

Rainbow ignored Angel and asked, “So I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me to this awesome haunted house tonight?”

“H-haunted house?” Fluttershy questioned, her voice trembling as the word finally registered.

“Yeah!” Rainbow replied cheerfully. “Flutters, don’t tell me you don’t like haunted houses?”

“R-rainbow! I told everypony that I hated nightmare night!” Fluttershy tried to yell, her voice wavering.

“That doesn’t mea—”

“That does mean haunted houses!” Fluttershy said rapidly, her wings stood at full mast.

Rainbow sighed and wrapped her hoof around her buddy. “Look, Flutters,” she began, her eyes set forth. “They’re just ponies in costumes…”

Costumes, that dreaded word.

Fluttershy couldn’t bear it, her body quaked in the grasp of Rainbow.

Rainbow nuzzled her friend. “Fluttershy, what’s wrong?”

“I-I… Rainbow, promise that you won’t laugh when I tell you this,” Fluttershy begged as she stared at her friend, her eyes full of tears.

Rainbow gave Fluttershy a bright smile in response. “Of course, cross my heart…”

Rainbow crossed her heart, her hoof floated rather closely over the cusp on her chest.

“Hope to fly…”

In seconds, the lone hoof whisked by, the air tickled the hairs on Rainbow’s body.

“Stick a cupcake…”

She moved the hoof towards her eye.

“In my ey—ouch!”

She came in contact with her eye, the stinging feeling rocked her to the core.

Fluttershy immediately reacted, her quick thinking changed the roles of concern. “You alright, Rainbow?”

Rainbow groaned. “Yes, Fluttershy, I’m fine,” she began. “I just wish that didn’t happen when I do a Pinkie Pie promise…”

Fluttershy giggled. “Maybe you should pay more attention to how Pinkie does it.”

Rainbow wished she could crawl into a hole to hide her shame, an unfortunate blush graced her cyan cheeks. “I should,” Rainbow responded, the wavering in her voice not helping her situation.

The silence reigned as the animals began to file in, some even bringing in cleaning supplies. Angel tugged at Fluttershy’s hoof.

“Huh?” Fluttershy said before her eyes trailed down to the little bunny, who now held a carrot-shaped swiftor in his mouth. “Cleaning supplies?” The room was filled with her furry friends, all pitching in with a helping hoof.

Rainbow saw this whole event unfold: each animal held a different tool, whether it was a mop, a broom, a rag, a bottle of Equestrisol, or a bottle of awesome—which is Rainbow’s favorite one of all—did not matter; all of these animals were cleaning the whole house while the two pegasi floated aimlessly around it, stunned by sudden cleaning spree.

The two stared at each other, unable to comprehend the whole matter. Yet, they still had one matter that they could comprehend…

“So, what is it you wanted to tell me?”

Fluttershy felt cold again, the hairs on her back stood up at end. “I… um,” Fluttershy squeaked, her voice more quiet than usual. “I am afraid of costumes!”

Rainbow couldn’t believe her hearing. “Could you repeat that?”

“I… I’m afraid of costumes!”

The phrase in her mind sounded like two hundred rampaging cows stampeding out Applejack’s farm and into the vast desert that is her mind that cannot comprehend contradicting phrases. “So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow began, her eyes zoning in on Fluttershy’s face. “You’re afraid of Nightmare Night because of the costumes?”

Fluttershy shakily nodded. “I… It’s hard to explain.”

Rainbow sighed and began to flutter down, her wings closed up as she landed, the yellow pegasus still in her grasp. “Come on,” Rainbow said as she walked over Angel, who was picking up the glass from the chandelier. “Let’s talk about this outside.”

Fluttershy nodded. “O-okay,” she said as her friend carried her outside while the animals continued to clean every nick and cranny of the cottage. Before the door slammed, Fluttershy called to her furry friends, “Be back in a bit!”

All that Fluttershy could hear was the loud reconstruction of her cottage…


“So… why do costumes bother you?” Rainbow asked her friend as the two walked southward, away from the cottage. “It’s not like you to be afraid of something like this.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I… I see them as two separate ponies,” Fluttershy stated, her hooves shaking with each step. “One on the left is the real pony while the other is the outer layer, the costume itself.”

“So… in a sense, you’re afraid of ponies and costumes because they’re two of the same kind?”

If Fluttershy’s mouth could drop, it would here.

And it did.

“Rainbow? How did yo—”

Her train of thought was halted by her cyan friend. “Twilight and I had this same discussion, Flutters, except it didn’t involve costumes.”

Fluttershy titled her head slightly. “Oh?”

Rainbow nodded. “It all started on one night, similar to this one,” she began, her eyes gazing up to the night sky, adorned by the shining white stars whose glow pierces past the dark, shady clouds that hang over the two pegasi. “We were inside, huddled together beside the fireplace. It was cold, sort of chilly if I wasn’t covered up in the blanket Twilight had.” She paused. “Huh, I gotta ask her where she got that blanket from, I—”

Rainbow spotted Fluttershy’s glare, an evil deadpanned countenance, one for the books. “I’m sorry,” Rainbow said, her eyes shifting forward once again. “Anyway, so we were reading the newest Daring Do, which was awesome by the way. It was a Nightmare Night special!” Again, Rainbow glanced at her friend. The deadpanned glare was still there. Rainbow awkwardly chuckled, continuing her story, “So, we read a few chapters and one of them struck me odd.”

“A chapter struck you?” Fluttershy asked, her head still tilted slightly. “Why?”

“Good question, Fluttershy,” Rainbow complimented her, eyes shifting to the trees of which they passed. “This chapter talked about courage and loyalty to one’s friends.” She took a moment to collect her thoughts as they passed through the forest, a dark, spooky ambience came from the treetops, the light peers ever-so-softly through the branches. “Loyalty is important in every sense of the word, it has taught me that I should never give up and always help my friends because they always help me! But sometimes, even when they don’t help you is when they need you the most.”

Fluttershy sighed. She could definitely relate. “I know how that feels,” Flutters muttered, her eyes shifting around the environment, observing the gritty dirt path and the faded brown bark. “Remember when you and I helped Cloudsdale get the water they needed for the weather?”

“I remember that!” Rainbow exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the prospect. “I was judging everypony for wingpower and then…”

Just like that, her excited demeanor fell flat on its face.

“Then you…”

Flutter cast her wing out over Rainbow, bringing her close. “Then I left because I was upset with myself,” she started, her eyes glistening from the memory. “I wanted to stop flying, I never wanted to see anypony again.” The pain, the guilt, the pressure; everything came back at once for both parties. However, Fluttershy couldn’t falter, it was all in the past. “But then I remembered you, telling me to join up in the first place.”

Rainbow’s depressed expression perked up slightly as she heard her friend acknowledge her. “Really?” she asked, her gaze pulling up from the ground. “But it was my fa-”

Fluttershy stopped and looked at her friend. “You believed in me even though you didn’t outright show it.” She squeezed Rainbow with her wing. “And I needed to help even if you didn’t ask me because it all involved getting over my fear of being picked on…”

Rainbow gave a slanted smile. “Well I did contribute to tha-”

“No!” Fluttershy yelled in her own way. “Don’t say that! It was all me!” She began to walk again, making Rainbow catch up to her friend. “I was the one who didn’t listen when I should’ve! I—”

Stop!” Rainbow shouted as she stomped her hoof on the ground.

Fluttershy did as she was told, skidding to a halt in front of a large, black, metal gate. “What?”

“First of all, I was the problem. If I didn’t try to force you into joining, you wouldn’t have been pressured and… all. It wasn’t too cool of me to pressure a friend.”

Fluttershy smiled brightly. “Oh, Rainbow… I’m so happy you’re so understanding and I-”



What?” Fluttershy yelled, her eyes bulging at the sight of the large, old house that stood on the even larger hill. “I told you that I didn’t want to go, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash slinked back, her wings limp as a board. “Um… Wanna go now?”

Fluttershy groaned.

This is not how she wanted to spend her Nightmare Night.


Rainbow Dash: bold but brash.

Fluttershy: friendly yet fly.

The two best friends smile very wide as they walked up to the haunted house, spooky yet kooky. The sign hanged rather low in the breeze, the word ‘Diss-Harmony’ gave no heed to them. Only they stopped, when they saw the clock strike three.

RING!

The loud booming sound echoed through the property, the deathly hollow bell continuing to echo in slightly lower tones. “H-hello?” Fluttershy said nervously.

“Oh, relax, Flutters,” Rainbow addressed. “It’s not like th-”

“Hello there,” a rough, gravelly voice announces as the door slowly creaked open, a small crack opening was all to see. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Rainbow shakily sighed while nudging her friend forward. “Come on,let’s go in.”

“B-but I don’t wanna!” Fluttershy whined with a stutter, her mind full of images of ponies in costumes. “It’s dark and scary and I-”

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow interrupted. “It’s just a house. You can do this.”

That tone.

That motivation.

That understanding.

It’s all coming back to Fluttershy, her wings standing straight out. “You’re right, Rainbow Dash.
I can do this!” Fluttershy announced, storming into the not-so-spooky abode of the Diss-harmonic family with her rainbow-maned friend not too far behind.

As they enter, the door behind them slammed shut and the sign that hung high now lay low, the red ink shattered the calm illusion to the house.


Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy breathe heavily, the room they are now in both dark and tense, the lack of oxygen bothering them both. Fluttershy looked over at her friend. “Let’s go.”

Rainbow nodded confidently as the two press on, taking a sharp right turn into what appeared to be the kitchen.

“This isn’t scary at all, Flut…” Rainbow stopped dead center, her eyes glued to the sight in front of her.

Large, round plates; tall, plastic cups; and one, giant spoon that appears to be too big are stacked upon one another. Each one lays on its side, defying logic as they do not roll, nor do they move as Rainbow moved to graze one of the cups. It does not falter. The table they rest on shook as she began to move away while Fluttershy shook in her own way, cowering behind the pink mane she adored in fear of the table.

“I-It’s nothing, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash muttered, her heart still fluttered from the nervous tinges that prick each and every hair on her spine. She shivered and moved closer to her friend, the yellow ‘canary’ squeaking as the rainbow did so.

Fluttershy glanced to her right, a dark shadow moved from her sight.

She gasped and nudged her best friend, who tilted her head to the side.  “L-look…” Her hoof gravitates towards the darkness, pointed in the direction of what she thought was a shadow. “W-we’ll go that way....”

Rainbow couldn’t believe her eyes. Fluttershy being brave? This is a rare occurrence. “Alright, Flutters, lead the way!”

Her friend nodded. “Y-you’ll be by my side, right?” she asked, her eyes began to be set forward on the darkness that was still… dark.

The two continue on as they passed the hall and into the dining room, the old, dusty room contrasted the previously unkempt kitchen. Rainbow eyed a particular piece: a curvy, stone vase laid in the center of the table, the even older, wooden table set appearing to hold it up. “Flutters?” Rainbow announced randomly, breaking the haunting silence.

Frightened as can be, Fluttershy progressed over, standing beside her friend as the two eyed the vase. “Do you see what I’m seein’?”

Fluttershy nodded. “H-how is it staying up on that table?”

“I don’t know…” Rainbow said as she circled the entire table, craning her neck high and low to see if the room even changed. She tried to see if anything would move: a fork somehow moving slightly, a spider web suddenly disintegrating into nothing, dust floating in the air; but nothing occurred. Nothing changed…

Rainbow Dash groaned, annoyed by the room. “Are you alright, Rainbow?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled while Fluttershy passed by with a nervous grin on her face. Rainbow saw this and smirked. “I guess you’re enjoying this more than you let on?”

She yelped. “I-I guess I am…”

Rainbow Dash smiled, lifting a wing around her pal. “Then let’s move on!” Rainbow exclaimed, her voice echoed as they turned to the left, no longer viewing the confusing displays.

They walked close as they descended further into the darkness, the void welcoming them fully. “I wish there was a light in here…” Rainbow muttered.

Fluttershy giggled nervously. “I-I think it wouldn’t be so haunted…”

“Right,” Rainbow said sarcastically. She focused as they entered the next room which was filled with...

...blood?

“Rainbow Dash, why is there blood here?”

She walked forward.

“I don’t know?” she responded awkwardly.

Another step is heard.

“You didn’t move again, did you?”

A clunking noise emitted from the darkness.

“R-rainbow!” she shouted, jumping into the side of her friend.

Rainbow grunted. “What?”

“H-hold me…”

Wing wrapped tight, the sounds still fright, Rainbow Dash sat in the dull light…

...darkness continues its hasty descent on the night.

Oh boy, they weren’t ready for this plight.

Another dish fell, shattered on the ground beside them.

Rainbow sighed and held her friend tight. They needed to get out of the room.

She looked to her left, no way would they exit the same. She knew the horror films they shown before as fillies, the two of them snuggled up in front of the monochrome projector. Two colors who always go together, now in true color.

She had to make a decision.

“Hold on to me Flutters!” Rainbow exclaimed, before lifting them a bit in the air, before rocketing right out of there. They entered the stairwell, and a funky one at that. Nothing out of the ordinary: the winding and twisting stairs that flipped and turned on whim did not phase the normalcy out for these two. Rainbow snickered. It seemed to be like child’s play.

She rose up while her wings flapped carefully. The stairwell was close, yet she knew she could fit through with her friend hanging on tightly to her backside. However, something felt off.

Rising up to the challenge, Rainbow Dash went up. She climbed, each level seeming to get closer to their goal….

...but they never reached it.

The stairs were getting closer to them.

The railing began to snap, the metal bended in more ways than one.

The paintings began to change color.

Nothing seemed right in this house anymore.

“Rainbow! The walls are getting closer!”

Rainbow Dash groaned, they need to get out of here. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another room; the door opened enough for the two to possibly slide through. Rainbow Dash looked back at her partner. “Flutters!”

“Yes?”

Rainbow Dash pointed at the entrance. “We’re going in there!”

Before Fluttershy had a chance to respond, Rainbow Dash zipped through, the two landing in a heap by something smooth.

Rainbow Dash held her head. This was not going to feel good tomorrow. “Fluttershy,” she said weakly.

A high pitched moan was all she received.

Rainbow opened her eyes.

She is welcomed by the white.

“Flutters?” she panickly asked around, the white interior of the dreaded bathroom messing with her senses.

She heard another weird moan.

“Flutters?”

Then, something tapped on her back.

“Nya!” Rainbow Dash yelped as she face planted on the cold tile floor.

She heard breathing from behind her, heavy and pronounced.

Rainbow Dash whimpered. She doesn’t want to die.

Then a rather feminine sigh emitted to her right.

“F-Fluttershy?” she said as she glanced up.

“Don’t sit on my face like that ever again, Rainbow…” Fluttershy calmly declared, her eyes set forth in the form of a stare. “You need to wash your bottom.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widen, her face promptly flushed. “I-I,” she stuttered as the broken yellow being of innocence walked out the door in horror, the images of a rear could be her biggest fear.

Rainbow stood on her hooves and chased after her. “Wait!”

But the two did not notice the mirror on the wall, showing the gate to the one who called.

Red oozed down, drip by drip; the two complemented mares walked hip to hip.

They walked down the hall, hoping for some way out.

They walked and walked down the long, narrow hall, light accenting their unnoticed shadows. Fluttershy takes a quick glance at Rainbow, who was smiling just enough.

“Flutters, isn’t this exciting?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you for taking me here…”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “It’s not a problem Fluttershy!” she said as Rainbow wrapped her cyan wing around her friend. “I really wanted you to be happy on Nightmare Night and I jus-”

A door slammed.

“I just…”

Another door slammed.

It felt as if time had slowed.

Another door had slammed.

Fluttershy had to…

“DUCK!”

In seconds, a sword swung out, nearly missing the two mares heads by just a smidge.

They panted for a second, both of the mares frightened by the sudden hash slinging that might’ve caught them if Fluttershy hadn’t said,

“DUCK!”

Another door slammed.

They two ducked again, crawling as the sword nearly missed. They picked one another up, the fright was almost over.

At least… in their minds.

A door opened.

A cat meowed.

“A kitty?” Fluttershy said, seeing the big fat cat. “Why are you out here?”

She began to approach.

Another door slammed.

“WATCH OUT!”

Rainbow Dash dived, slamming Fluttershy out of the way, the two flying all the same. They crashed in the heap, not worried about the one who was reaped, the meowing ceased as silence will meet.

Fluttershy whimpered, the smell of blood thickened.

Nothing could be done.

Rainbow Dash murmured, “It’ll be alright.” She turned her around, letting the dead stay asleep, but nothing could compare to the death of a young one.

Another door slammed.

But nothing came to them.

They stopped.

“Rainbow…”

“Fluttershy…”

They saw it.

Darkness in this hall, a cloud picked in the hall.

Black as the blend of the void that had no end.

The two stood close, wings overlapping both.

Nothing could be more horrifying than this:

“Who dares disturb the place of my rest?”



The thing took a step.

They mirrored its move.

Neither would speak.

“You will not answer me?”

They rapidly shook their heads.

“Then we will be…”

It vanished.

“R-Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow looked over at her friend. “Yeah?”

“Can we go now?”

Rainbow tilted her head. “Why’s that?”

Fluttershy whimpered. “I… I think there’s something behind me.”

Rainbow Dash began to turn around. “Oh, Fluttershy, don’t be silly.”

“B-but…”

“There’s no suc—”

“...such thing as ghosts.”

She was welcomed by the darkness.

The two wide-eyed, mouths set low, eyes attempted to go lower. Rainbow could only think of one word to say to her friend.

“Run.”

And they did, far, far away from here.

The darkness laughed as they left packing, their screams could be heard by all.

Once they were out of earshot, darkness removed her identity; her beak clean as ever. She smiled one wicked smile; something that could not be beat.

“Man, Rainbow Dash sure is in last.”

For even old rivals can beat the best.