"Apple Bloom, are you sure about this?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously. She, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were standing on the top of the school, all three decked out in parachute gear. "It doesn't seem very safe."
"Or legal," Scootaloo added. Although the daredevil of the friends, this clearly didn't sit right with her. "What will our sisters say?"
"We'll be fine, girls," Apple Bloom responded, adjusting the strap on her green helmet. "I checked the rule book, and there's nothin' in there about parachutin'!
"Probably because Principal Celestia assumes we're all in our sane minds," Sweetie Belle muttered, but Apple Bloom paid no attention.
"Who says our sisters needa know?" She added slyly. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rolled their eyes.
"Let's just get this over with, if we're not going to talk you out of this," Scootaloo added, stepping up to the edge of the school building. "Who's first?"
"Let's all go together," Sweetie Belle suggested. "That way, if we all die, we die together!"
"You're bein' surprisingly dark," Apple Bloom stepped up beside Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "We'll be fine, I promise. An' an Apple's promise is somethin' you never break until the end of time!" Sweetie Belle couldn't help laughing at Apple Bloom's comparison.
"Okay, on the count of three," Scootaloo said, linking hands with her BFFs. "O-"
"Three!" Apple Bloom jumped without warning, dragging the other three down with her.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Sweetie Belle screamed, terrified.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Apple Bloom cried in exhilaration.
"Aaaaaaaah!" Scootaloo yelled in anger, staring daggers at Apple Bloom.
"Release your parachute or something'!" Apple Bloom yelled to them. The girls grappled for the zippers to their parachutes. Sweetie Belle grabbed hold and tugged. A green canvas opened up behind her. A magenta one opened behind Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom's parachute was the same gold as her eyes.
"We are never doing this again!" Sweetie Belle screamed as they floated to the ground. "You almost killed us back there, AB!"
"Jeez, I'm really sorry, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom responded in a tone that was either really sincere or really sarcastic. Sweetie Belle couldn't tell.
The drifted downwards for about half a minute. Sweetie Belle was glad when her boots touched concrete again. She landed neatly in front of the CHS statue. Her parachute fell behind her, nearly tipping Sweetie Belle off balance. Scootaloo landed on Sweetie Belle's left, and Apple Bloom landed on her right.
"These are heavy," Sweetie Belle groaned. As she tried to unhook the parachute, she stumbled forward. She was backed against the statue now.
"Let me just rest for a second." Sweetie Belle leaned back- and found herself falling.
"Sweetie Belle-" Scootaloo lunged forward and grabbed her arm, but she was strong enough. Sweetie Belle pulled them both into the swirling lights.
"Guys!" At the last second, Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo's ankle.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Their combined screams rang in Sweetie Belle's ears like a school belL that wouldn't stop ringing.
"We're gonna die!" Sweetie Belle yelled. Suddenly the lights were gone. Sweetie Belle could only see orange-brown hair.
"What happened?" She asked. Sweetie Belle raised her head. What she saw caused her to gasp. She was lying next to a small yellow pony with a red mane and pink bow, as well as an orange pony with small wings and a short fuchsia mane.
"S-scootaloo, A-apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle stammered in disbelief. "You're- ponies!" Scootaloo raised her head as well.
"No kidding!" She exclaimed, examining herself and Sweetie Belle. "I've got wings! And Sweetie- you have a horn! You're a unicorn!"
"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly. She went cross eyed trying to get a good look at her horn. "Cool!"
"I'm just a regular pony," Apple Bloom noted, "but I don't really mind. So, where are we?"
"I don't know!" Sweetie Belle admitted. For the first time, she looked around at her surroundings.
"Maybe we're in a crystal cave!" Scootaloo suggested, standing up on her short, round pony legs.
"It looks more like a diamond palace!" Sweetie Belle answered, she and Apple Bloom standing up as well.
"So we're in a crystal place," Apple Bloom restated. "What do we do now?" They all knew the answer at once.
"Explore!" The trio cried in unison.
"Look at all these books!" Scootaloo marveled. "I bet there's tons more than what Miss Cheerilee has!"
"I agree with you on that one," Apple Bloom agreed, stumbling over to the shelves. "Anybody else finidin' it hard to walk on these legs?"
"Not me!" Sweetie Belle responded cheerfully. "Don't worry, Apple Bloom, you'll get the hang of it!"
"Thanks!" Apple Bloom was cheered by the encouragement. "Hey Scoots, why dontcha take a book and we go downstairs to see what else we could find?"
"Sounds good to me!" Scootaloo agreed. She selected a random book and pulled it out.
"What's it called?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Secrets of The Ouija Board," Scootaloo responded, looking up at her friends.
"My parents rented a movie about a ouija board once," Sweetie Belle remembered. "Even Rarity wasn't allowed to watch it, and she was 15 at the time." She and Scootaloo stared at each other for a long moment.
"Uh, guys?" Apple Bloom waved a hoof between them.
"Knowledge," Scootaloo whispered breathlessly.
"Let's jus' get downstairs," Apple Bloom reminded them. In the time Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been observing the book, she had mastered the art of horse walking. Apple Bloom led them down to the main level.
"Is there a kitchen?" Scootaloo asked. "I'd like a snack while I read."
"There's probably one around here," Sweetie Belle answered. "Let's look."
"I'll go down this hall, and you go down that one, Sweetie," Apple Bloom directed. "Scootaloo can sit her and start reading."
"Awesome!" Scootaloo plopped down and opened to the first page. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle walked down the right hallway, searching for the kitchen.
"It's pretty dark in here," she commented, peeking through a doorway that led to an empty room. "I hope the kitchen has some lighting."
On the other side of the house, Apple Bloom had better luck on her search. She had found the kitchen.
"Great!" Apple Bloom exclaimed triumphantly. "Not bad for someone who ain't even a real pony. Now, what do we got in here?" Apple Bloom, with moderate difficulty, opened the refrigerator.
The only thing in it was some spoiled milk.
"Is this place deserted?" Apple Bloom wondered. The theory would make sense. The only thing in the kitchen, besides the fridge, was a lone, crystal chair.
At the same time, Scootaloo, a fast reader, was immersed in her book.
"This is terrifying!" She squeaked, eyes glued to the page. "It's so scary I can't put it down." As she approached the climax of the horror story, she heard unfamiliar voices.
"Well, I'm off, Spike," a feminine voice said cheerfully. Scootaloo froze.
"Just be merciful to your victims, won't you, Twilight?" A young male voice, Spike, responded. Scootaloo's eye twitched.
Victims? She thought nervously. The girl laughed again.
"Oh don't be silly! I have to be very thorough in my work."
She's a murderer! Scootaloo realized. Just like in my book! In a panic, Scootaloo did the only sensible thing terrified ponies do.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" She screamed. Scootaloo ran up the stairs in fright. Her scream reached the ears of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom as well.
"Uh oh," Sweetie Belle murmured nervously. Her ears flattened against her head. Suddenly, the shadows looked like monsters! She was trapped in a hallway full of evil ghosts!
"Save meeeeeeee!" She screamed. Sweetie Belle ran for the foyer.
A few moments earlier, Apple Bloom had been in the same position. Frightened by Scootaloo's scream, she backed up. The chair toppled over. Apple Bloom shrieked in terror, running out of the room as fast as her little legs could carry her.
She and Sweetie Belle met up at the bottom of the stairs, both panting.
"Up here!" Scootaloo yelled. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle climbed the stairs hastily.
"We're all gonna die!" Sweetie Belle yelled, adrenaline coursing through her.
"I can't run anymore in this body!" Apple Bloom added, nearly collapsing. "We'll never make it!"
"Not if I can help it!" Scootaloo shouted determinedly. She grabbed the hooves or Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They miraculously managed to get to the portal fairly quickly.
"Jump!" Scootaloo screamed loudly. The three friends threw themselves into the portal, still terrified of what was on the other side.
In a minute, they were back at Canterlot High.
"Ugh," Apple Bloom groaned, sitting up and rubbing her calves. "I think I tore a ligament or somethin'."
"You know what, girls?" Scootaloo asked, sitting up as well. "I don't think we were in any real danger." The three of them stared at each other.
"Let's never tell anyone any of this," Sweetie Belle suggested.
"Good idea," Apple Bloom and Scootaloo agreed together.