//------------------------------// // Act 3- The Hidebehind // Story: Clubhouse of Horror IV // by Grenazers //------------------------------// After Sweetie Belle was done with her story, the crusaders resume their journey through the corn maze. However, no matter where they go it felt like going in circles for them. “Oh no, we are totally lost.” Scootaloo said sounding worried. “This is so weird, why haven’t we met up with any other ponies yet?” Applebloom inquired. “Maybe that creature got to them?” “What? Don’t be ridiculous, Sweetie Belle.” The orange pegaus responded. “There is no way that thing could eat a full size pony.” Suddenly as they turn around a corner they come across a path littered with pony bones. Immediately upon seeing this, the crusaders all let a out a terrified scream and gallop right through the collection of bones. If one of those fillies actually bothered to check the bones, they would’ve been able to easily tell that they were made of cheap plastic. As the crusaders galloped through the maze they were then met with three ghosts that floated high above them. Seeing them terrified the crusaders even more, causing them to gallop off in a different direction. While they ran, the three immediately stopped when something dash between the corn wall in front of them. “Oh no, it’s back!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “What are we going to do?” Sweetie questioned. At that moment Applebloom got an idea. “Quick this way girls!” She said as motion them to follow her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle follow behind their yellow friend, who led them to an old hollowed out tree. The crusaders enter through a hole in the tree and hid themselves inside. There they remain quiet, lest they want whatever was out there to hear them. “Alright I think we’re safe for now.” Applebloom said after she took a quick peek outside. The Crusaders all took the moment to relax. “Well since we’re all safe, how about you tell us your scary story, Applebloom.” Scootaloo suggested. “Yeah OK I got a story to tell you two, but I gotta tell it to you real low so that thing outside won’t hear us.” Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded their heads and listen in closely to their friend. “This tale of mine is something Granny Smith once told me long ago. This story is about my great-great granduncle, Black Apple and his encounter with…” The Hidebehind Long ago my great-great granduncle, Black Apple, lives by himself in a small house residing in the woods. Black Apple was a reclusive stallion, rarely leaving his house aside from gathering supplies from the nearby town. One day while buying food, he befriended a local vendor who agreed to come over his house. So the next day, Black Apple patiently waited for the arrival of his new friend. Hours passed and there was not a single knock on his door. Believing his friend got lost, Black Apple instead decides to go out and look for him. He follows the same path he used to get to town. Along this path, he found nothing out of the ordinary until he spotted a black derby hat near the dirt road. He recognizes it as the same hat that his friend wore when he visited his stall yesterday. He found his hat, but now where was his friend? Deciding to investigate further he begins his search. Black Apple knew how to track and with this ability he was able to deduce what happened to the pony. Hours ago his friend was just trotting by the same dirt road he was on, heading straight to his house. However, upon finding bent down grasses coming from the woods, a creature or something came out and attacked his friend and then dragged him back into the woods. Fearing that something might’ve happened to him, Black Apple quickly followed the trail that led him further deeper into the woods, to parts unknown to him. Black Apple kept on following the trail for some time now. By now the sun was already setting, it will be dark soon and Black Apple didn’t really want be out in the woods at night. Eventually the trail leads him to a dark, creepy cave. Black Apple enters the cave, using a lighter for his source of light. He continues going deeper down until he spotted a pony on the ground. Recognizes the stallion as the one from yesterday, he gallop towards him to check if he was alright. But, upon turning him over he was met with a grisly sight. The stallion’s stomach was ripped opened and his intestines torn out. The urge to throw up came to Black Apple, but he fought against it and held it down. He kneels down before the dead stallion and said a short eulogy about him. After that he stood up and trot out of cave. As he got outside the sun has already set and sky was now dark. While trotting though the darken forest, Black Apple could not help the feelings that he was being watched. He felt this feeling right after when he left the cave. At first he thought he was just being paranoid, but the warning alarms in his head was telling him that he was being stalked. Black Apple, could no longer this feeling and quickly turn around, hoping to catch his stalker. When he did this, the stallion was quickly able to catch a quick glimpse of the creature tailing him, before it took cover behind a tree. Despite not completely seeing the creature, that quick glimpse of it was all he needed to know who was following. The creature hiding behind that tree is the mysterious being called the Hidebehind. According to legend, the Hidebehind is creature that is never seen. Nopony knows what it looks like and those that do rarely make it out alive to tell the tale. Like their name says, the Hidebehind has the habit of hiding behind anything around it. Whether it be trees, boulders or even tall grasses the Hidebehind can hide behind anywhere. Another fact about this creature is that they are all carnivores. They usually stalk a lone prey that wanders around their territory. Now knowing what he was dealing with, Black Apple had to make sure the Hidebehind doesn’t know that he is on to him. Casually he trot through the woods again, this time listen closely to the sound of the creature approaching him. Whenever he hears it getting closer he always trots further, distancing himself away from the beast. Black Apple, continue his trot until he spotted a cliff in the distance. Upon seeing the cliff an idea popped in his head. Making a beeline to the cliff, his quicken his pace a bit. Suddenly he heard sound behind him getting louder. Knowing that the Hidebehind was onto him, Black Apple sprinted for the Cliffside. Once he got to the cliff, he jumped off the edge and quickly grabbed onto some vines that was growing beneath the cliff. Under there, Black Apple waited and heard the sound of the Hidebehind up on top. The creature was most likely looking him, searching where he went off to. With his prey gone, the Hidebehind simply gave up and walked away. Once he was sure the Hidebehind was gone, Black Apple climb back up from the cliff and galloped all the way back home. After that day, Black Apple packed up all of his things and left the house. With the knowledge that the Hidebehind was lurking around in these woods, he doesn’t feel safe anymore and it would be a matter of time before he encounters the creature again. Perhaps next time he won’t be fortunate enough to escape it.