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// Off to the Castle 
// Story: It's beginning to look alot like Krampus 
// by Scootadasher13 
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	Scootaloo and Silver Spoon both started laughing at Sweetie Belle’s suggestion. Sweetie Belle stood there waiting patiently for her friends to stop chuckling.
“You really believe that old mare’s tale about the evil stealer of foals?” chuckled Silver Spoon, “I heard that scary story last year and calling it scary is being more generous than your sister, Sweetie”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, finally getting her laughter under control, “They told us last night that it wasn’t real”
“They also said that the Krampus would sometimes leave a piece of coal,” said Sweetie Belle, “and that he visits the naughty ponies before Santa Hooves. Both of those things happened here, and well, and don’t take this the wrong way Spoons,” Sweetie looked at the grey earth pony, “Diamond Tiara hasn’t exactly been good, at least until a couple of months ago”
“Yeah, but she’s different now,” Scootaloo said, “she hasn’t been mean since then. Why would something like Krampus come and take her away?”
“Maybe because he’s escaped from Tartarus and since she was mean for a long time before that, he’s doing what he thinks is best” Silver Spoon suggested.
“That could be it,” Sweetie Belle said, “remember Tirek? He escaped when Cerberus got loose and it took him a couple of years before he could begin causing trouble. Maybe the same thing happened with Krampus”
“If that’s so then what will happen to Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo asked, “according to the story, Krampus eats the fillies and colts he takes that already have their cutie marks”
“Then that means Krampus is going to eat her!” exclaimed Silver Spoon.


																														     


Diamond Tiara came awake with a jolt. She was laying on a cold floor made of what appeared to be stone. The walls were also made of stone except for one wall which was taken up by rows of bars from floor to ceiling. Near the top of the opposite wall was a small window with bars on it as well. Light was shining through it down into her cell. She suddenly remembered being taken by that satyr and fainting when it said it was going to eat her but she guessed that must have been hours ago judging by the amount of light streaming in.
“Where in Equestria am I?” she asked nothing in particular.
You’re in a cell in Krampus’s castle” came a voice from outside her bars.
Diamond Tiara jumped at the strange voice. Looking around she glanced through the bars and saw that there was another cell across from her. Inside sat a young Pegasus colt. He appeared to be about the same age as her. His coat was a light grey color with a blue mane. His cutie mark was of a miniature tornado.
“Who are you?” asked Diamond Tiara, “Where did you say we were?”
“My name’s Dust Devil,” said the young colt, “I’m from Manehatten, and you’re in Krampus’s castle. Didn’t you ever hear of Krampus?”
Diamond Tiara remembered the story her parents had told her and Silver Spoon last year about the creature who would steal and punish naughty ponies. They had laughed it off then because they thought it was just something her parents had made up. Now, she was forced to acknowledge that her parents didn’t make it up. There really was a creature who would steal and eat the naughty ponies in Equestria, and he had taken her.
“What’s going to happen to us?” Diamond asked Dust Devil.
“What do you think's going to happen?” Dust Devil sneered, “He’s going to cook us up and eat us! Hopefully he’ll start with you and be too full to worry about me”
“Are you calling me fat?” Diamond Tiara snarled.
“No,” said Dust Devil, leering at her, “that would be an insult to fat ponies. At first I thought Krampus made a mistake and foalnapped a little piggy instead”
“Leave her alone, Dust Devil,” came another voice from the left wall of Tiara’s cell, “from what you told me before this little filly arrived, your teasing is what got you here in the first place”
“Who are you?” Diamond Tiara asked, “What did you do to get taken?”
“Name’s Windy Night,” came the voice, “don’t mind Dust Devil. He just acts like that because he’s scared. I’m from Clousdale. I guess I’m here because I’ve always ignored my parents. A couple of nights ago, we were supposed to go to the Hearths carol but I snuck out of my house to visit my coltfriend. That was when Krampus took me”
“How old are you two?” Diamond Tiara asked.
Dust Devil huffed, crossed his arms, and looked away from her. Windy Night answered for him.
“He’s ten years old. I’m 15,” she answered, “How old are you?”
“Nine,” Tiara said, “My name’s Diamond Tiara. I’m from Ponyville”
“Ponyville, eh?” Windy Night said, “That means you must know Princess Twilight”
“Yeah, some of my friends are sisters of her friends,” Diamond Tiara said thinking about her new friends.


																														     


“So,” said Scootaloo, “all we’ve got to do is travel farther north than anypony has been, break into an evil satyr’s castle, rescue Diamond Tiara before she gets eaten, and hightail it home before Krampus catches and eats all four of us. Did I leave anything out?”
The three of them were sitting in the crusaders' clubhouse discussing what they were going to do. They had all simultaneously agreed to check out Sweetie’s idea and try to figure out what happened to Diamond Tiara. They knew they had to act fast, because Diamond Tiara’s disappearance wouldn’t stay secret for long. Once it came out that she had vanished, no parent in Ponyville would let them out of their sight.
“That’s about it,” Sweetie Belle said, “That sounds pretty easy, honestly”
“Are you serious?” Silver Spoon asked, shocked at the unicorn’s sense of simplicity, “What exactly are you saying will be easy? The traveling? Or maybe it’s the breaking in? No, I know, it’s the escape”
“We’ll figure that stuff out when we get there,” Sweetie Belle said nonchalantly, “right now I’m more worried about what our parents are going to say. We can’t just say we’re going to an evil satyr’s castle and ask if there’s anything they want us to bring back”
“True, although,” Scootaloo said, her face lighting up with an idea, “we could use that as an excuse for not being home at a reasonable hour. We could say that we’re playing Krampus and that we’re going to spend the night in the clubhouse”
“Hey, that’s a great idea Scoots,” said Sweetie Belle, “but, instead we’ll be traveling north and rescuing Tiara before Hearths Warming”
“So, we’ll all meet at the train station in an hour,” Scootaloo said confidently, “and then we’ll be off to save Tiara from the evil clutches of the Krampus”


																														     


“Well,” said Windy Night from her cell, “you were definitely a mean little filly, weren’t you, Tiara?”
It was night. Diamond Tiara had just finished telling the two Pegasi all the horrible things she’d done to her fellow classmates. She had felt, since the others had shared why they had been taken, she should as well. She learned that Dust Devil, apparently, had been extremely rude to others, including his own parents. He wouldn’t do his homework and when questioned about it, he would lie to their faces, he threw away all his vegetables during dinner, and he would even steal money from his parents to spend on gum and comic books.
She also learned that so far it was only the three of them that had been foalnapped. This confused all three of them. Why would Krampus, who knew about all bad fillies and colts, only take three? They didn’t have much time to ponder because soon they heard the scraping and jingling that told them that Krampus was coming down to the dungeons.
A few seconds later, Krampus walked into the view of the three young ponies. He was wearing the same large red coat that Diamond Tiara had seen him in last night. As he approached, Tiara saw that the scratching noise came from his long tail as it slid along behind him. He was carrying a large platter, upon which were three glasses of water and three loaves of bread. He placed each plate and glass in front of each of the three foals. Dust Devil and Windy Night reached for their food without complaint and Tiara imitated them. As she ate Diamond Tiara decided to try and get some information out of the creature.
“Excuse me, Mr. Krampus, sir,” Tiara said
Krampus turned to look at her as she spoke.
“Why did you only take three of us?” she asked, “Surely there were more than just three bad ponies in all of Equestria”
“Absolutely, there were,” said Krampus, his voice low and menacing, “but I don’t need to take all of them this year”
“What do you mean ‘this year’?” asked Windy Nights
“I suppose, since I’ll be eating you all tomorrow night, I can tell you some things. It won’t matter anyway,” Krampus began, “I was sealed in Tartarus for over 1500 years. When Cerberus escaped several of us saw it as our chance to finally be free of that wretched prison that those blasted sisters had banished us to. Only two of us managed to gather the necessary energy needed to escape: myself and Tirek. He came to me wanting to make a blood pact and, as long as I got free from that wretched prison, I agreed to help him escape. We managed it just before that unicorn returned with Cerberus. We both knew the requirements of our pact: so long as we continued to drain the life of others, we would be free”
Krampus got up to leave, but Diamond Tiara tried to get one last piece of information.
“Why did you say you were going to eat us tomorrow?” she asked as the satyr started walking away.
“Because, otherwise I will be sealed again in Tartarus after come Hearths Warming” he said.
After Krampus had left, Diamond Tiara heard Windy Night’s voice.
“Why did you ask him those questions?”
“Because,” Diamond Tiara answered, “now we know his weakness”


																														     


An hour after the fillies had left the clubhouse, they met up at Ponyville station. Each of them had saddlebags stuffed with all kinds of items. Sweetie Belle had been in charge of gathering up thick hats and scarves for them to wear, while Silver Spoon had been put in charge of getting the food. Scootaloo, being much more outdoorsy than the others, had been put in charge of gathering the equipment they might need. While the other two went over everything they had brought, Silver Spoon went and bought three tickets to the Crystal Empire.
“We’re in luck,” said Silver Spoon, when the others had joined her on the platform, “This is the last train that’s going to the Crystal Empire for the season. They’re closing the station for the holidays”
“Wow, that is lucky” said Scootaloo as they boarded the train and gave their tickets to the ticket pony.
“We’re finally off to Krampus’s castle, girls,” said Sweetie Belle, “I sure do hope everything goes fine”