//------------------------------// // Acclimation // Story: Death Mansion // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// Candles flickered from a steel chandelier, bathing the foyer in twisting shadows and warm light as the ponies clipped in. Ornate benches of brass lined the side, a thick rug under the pony's hooves with patterns that bent the eyes and seemed to defy the laws of geometry. Their gaze was drawn forward to the meeting between the foyer and a long hall that stretched both left and right; more specifically, they were drawn to the statue that resembled, of all things, a giant octopus with shut eyes and a horde of lobsters crawling up its tentacles. Fluttershy couldn't figure out why the statue chilled her soul when she looked at it. Slaughter was almost the last one in, with only Gore behind him to swing the gates shut. As he passed the threshold, the unicorn waved to a suit of armor on his left with a smile. "You've already met Chanfron of course; he knows this castle better than anypony alive, so if you're ever lost just call for him." Applejack blinked. "Um... wasn't he puttin' away our carriage?" "Hmm? Oh, yes, Chanfron does a lot of things for us. Loyal family servant, and all that." The lord of the mansion gave the suit of armor a friendly pat. "We're all quite thankful for him, believe you me!" "It's just... Ah thought he went down a different road, and now he's here all of the sudden--" "He's quite resourceful," Slaughter McMurderkill explained simply. Rainbow Dash hovered up to Chanfron, peering into the hollow metal round where its eyes would be. "...do you ever take that armor off?" The sound of iron scraping slowly against iron growled ominously at her. "...I'll take that as a no." Slaughter chuckled. "Consummate professional, he is." "Really?" Pinkie drawled, giving Chanfron a speculative look. "Even with the armor? His wife must have some interesting stories--" A high-pitched unholy squeal suddenly echoed through the halls, and Slaughter rose an immaculate eyebrow. "Ah, it looks like news of your arrival has spread! I do hope you're prepared for this, your highness, she can catch some ponies off guard." "W-What?!" Twilight backed toward the gate. "Who are you talking about?! What was that noise?!" "Oh, did I forget to mention?" Slaughter chuckled as the squealing grew closer, ever closer. "I happen to have in this castle one of the most unpredictable, unnerving, and incomprehensible creatures that ponykind has ever had the... unique fortune to encounter. Very difficult to contain." Twilight felt her tail pressed against the gate, eyes focused on the hall. "What?! What are you talking about?!" The grin he shot Twilight was one she had seen before, but only on the face of a particular mishmashed entity. "You see, your highness... I have a daughter." On cue, a small green filly skidded around the corner, accidentally bumping into the octopus statue and knocking off a few stone lobsters which glowed with blackened runes when they hit the floor. Her red eyes shone with unmitigated glee as she caught sight of the visitors. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! IT'S HER IT'S HER YOU'RE HER AND YOU'RE THE OTHERS AND YOU'RE ALL HERE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie Pie agreed readily. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" the filly continued. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie explained. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" the filly cried. "AHEM!" Rarity jammed a hoof in Pinkie's mouth before she could respond. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, darling. Might I ask your name?" "Oh! Oh right right right, sorry!" The green filly stood up firmly, adjusting her frilly ebony dress and the two large frizzy black spheres that were tied behind her mane as she schooled her expression. "I am dame Frock, daughter to the current Lord, and I would like to welcome you to death mansion." She gave a polite little curtsy. "My, what a well mannered young lady!" Rarity smiled at the young pony. "I'm sure we'll get along just--" One of the filly's forelegs fell to the ground. "...f...fine," the fashionista finished with a stammer. "Oh, haha, whoops!" With an innocent giggle, the filly grabbed her leg and jammed it back into the sleeve. "I guess I shouldn't have been running so hard, huh? Don't worry, my head almost never falls off anymore!" "That's good to know!" Pinkie chirped brightly. "Yes, quite..." Rarity managed to gather her thoughts. "I must say, Frock, I've never--" "Frock," the filly corrected. "Not Frock. You have to trill the r." "My apologies, darling. I just wanted to ask, if I may, how you came to be so... discombobulated, as it were." "She wandered where she shouldn't," purred a new voice as a limber, sleek blue mare rounded the corner, "and ended up briefly dead for her mistake. Fortunately, my husband was able to bring her back, for the most part. Frock, dear, you knocked one of the Charp off Squirk here." "Sorry, momma!" Frock turned around and picked up the glowing lobster, planting it back on the base of the octopus's tentacles. "At least it wasn't the Krang, though..." "It is still best to ensure the sea does not wake, dear." With a swish of her long cobalt mane and a sway to her slow steps, the mare locked her yellow eyes on Slaughter McMurderkill. "I take it these are the guests that you have been talking about all last week?" "Ah, yes indeed. Ladies, this is Abattage de la Censure, my dear wife of all these years." Slaughter waved toward the assembled mares. "Batty dear, these are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and of course the alicorn is-- "--Princess Twilight Sparkle." The mare smiled with a sultry gaze, two points quite visible in her mouth. "I've had a peculiar interest in you ever since I heard your name." She reached out a leathery wing and trailed it slowly down her husband's back. "Does your family have any particular interest in, shall we say... blood drives?" "...no?" Twilight cleared her throat. "We're really more of a stargazing family--well, I mean that's something we all like to do together--" "Ah, the stars are wonderful things. Such a shame they're hard to see in this mansion, what with the weather acting like it does..." Batty wrapped a hoof around her husbanded, bringing her cheek to his. "Still, it does provide us a rather... fascinating home, all things considered. I'm sure Moldavite is quite glad of it." "Who?" "Ah, yes," Slaughter cleared his throat. "Moldavite, our groundskeeper. You'll have to forgive her absence, she's remarkably shy when it comes to visitors, and tends to remain out of sight unless she feels like she's needed." "I just can't believe you're all really here!" Frock squealed. "Living legends! At my house! It's incredible!" "Yeah, we're pretty great," Rainbow agreed. "I mean, we've got princess Twilight, the night's purification and scholar of the forgotten!" Frock blit her lip. "I mean, I thought you'd be a darker shade of purple, but I guess some things are exaggerated..." Twiligth glanced at her feathers. "Well, I've never really bothered with cosmetics--" "And Fluttershy! THE FLUTTERSHY!" Frock bounded up to the surprised yellow pegasus. "Tamer of all manner of beasts, the eldritch and the mundane, personal friend to the Youngest of the Elders!" "Oh! Um." Fluttershy blushed. "It's not that hard... youngest of the--?" "Oh, and who can forget Pinkie Pie?" The filly was already bouncing over to the pink pony. "Is it true you have no fear? Can you really twist through the lost dimensions? Are you actually aware of the endless eyes?!" "Yes, yeppers, and yepperoni!" Pinkie winked and leaned down conspiratorially. "That last one is a secret, though, don't tell anypony." Frock giggled. "Alright, I won't. But it's such an honor to meet you!" Rainbow rose an eyebrow. "A-hem." "Oh, and of course we have the Watcher and the Schemer." Frock gestured at Applejack and Rarity. "I know it's not as glamorous as these others, but the fact that you're willing to take up the tedium while they handle their own abilities, you have NOTHING but my respect." "Schemer?" Rarity protested. "Ah'm startin' ta feel you're not gettin' tha right newspapers," Applejack grumbled. "Ahem!" Rainbow repeated, oh so subtly striking a pose. Frock gave her a long look. "...Oh, yeah. You're the fast one, right?" Rainbow grinned. "Yep!" "...huh. Cool, I guess." "Now now, dear," Batty chided from her position draped across Slaughter's back, "there's no reason to be rude. I'm sure miss Dash has contributed to the group's success on numerous occasions." "Oh my, speaking of rudeness!" Slaughter cleared his throat. "Here I've been standing about and letting you poor mares shiver in the foyer! I should really show you to your rooms." "I, GORE! Shall go to retrieve po-nay's luggage." The dark diamond dog loped away at a frightening pace, kicking up a small breeze as he went through the small group of guests. Batty tittered, dragging the hook of her wing through her husband's hair. "Always so eager to please, that pup." "I told you he would be," Slaughter reminded her. "That you did, that you did. Oh, Chanfron?" The mare looked to the suit of armor suddenly behind Rainbow Dash, who jumped away in shock. "Do be a darling and make sure I haven't left any of my... trinkets in the guest rooms?" With a groan of metal, Chanfron began to walk away. Rainbow quickly busied herself with brushing her wings off. "He's surprisingly quiet. You know, for such a heavily armored pony." "Yeah, you get used to that," Frock replied casually. "Sometimes I think I see him, but it's just a mist cloud, and then BAM he's actually right behind me." "Riiiiiiight." Rainbow smiled thinly. "Hey Twi, can I talk to you for a second?" "Ah... sure?" The two of them walked over to one of the benches. Rainbow coughed. "So, uh, you know what you were saying on the way here?" "Yes?" "About ghosts, zombies, and vampires?" "Yes, Rainbow." "And how they'd all be contained or something." "Rainbow, please--" The pegasus held up a hoof for a moment. Then she pointed at Chanfron. "Ghost." Then at Frock. "Zombie." And finally at Batty, who was teasingly nibbling on Slaughter McMurderkill's ear. "Vampire." "Okay, first of all, those are all assumptions which could be false--" "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's either a duck or a darn good changeling." "--and secondly," Twilight continued with a roll of her eyes, "they're all obviously reasonable if somewhat strange individuals, and can clearly be trusted not to terrorize the countryside. Think of it this way: They're good monsters, and they tell us how to fight the bad ones." Rainbow looked at her askance. "Really." "Yes. Really. Now come on, you're making us look bad!" Twilight quickly trotted over to the group, flashing Slaughter an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Dash had a few worries, ridiculous things really. Now what was that about our rooms?" "Oh yes, of course of course!" With a wide smile of his own, Slaughter slid out from under his wife and gave her a small peck on the cheek. "This way, please!" As the stallion led them deeper into the castle, Abattage de la Censure sidled closer to Rainbow Dash. "I do apologize for my daughter's lack of tact," she said with a small smile. "Word of your accomplishments have reached her ears, but with the local weather she's not had much positive interaction with pegasi." The mare snorted, giving her a wary look. "Yeah?" "Oh, yes." Batty appreciatively let her eyes trace Rainbow's form. "You're very clearly an athlete just by looking at you, a hard working one at that." "Heh, yeah." Rainbow let herself relax just a bit. "I do keep up my regimen." "Oh, I can tell. But, you do share my daughter's lack of tact." "Really?" "The only time I want to be called a vampire," purred Batty, "is behind locked doors. Usually by my husband, but I certainly wouldn't mind if you joined us." With a soft brush to the surprised mare's cutie mark, she moved forward to walk next to Slaughter.