Madmare Island

by Alaborn

Epilogue

Madmare Island

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Epilogue

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October 14, 1482 AC

Scootaloo and Rumble hopped off the boat onto the dock. Low clouds clung to the little island. Lanterns glowing an eerie purple hung from poles, lighting a path to Camp Sapphire Lake through the haze. A chorus of crickets welcomed the two young pegasi to the island. Balancing their bags on their backs, they headed on.

“So, ready to study for the practical cloudbusting exam?” Scootaloo asked Rumble.

“Yes, just like we said all week, anytime Diamond Tiara was in earshot, we’re going to practice dealing with Everfree weather,” Rumble replied. He shucked his bags and flew into the air, kicking a rogue cloud until it dissipated. “Your turn.”

Scootaloo flew up and handled another cloud. “And now we can truthfully say we did.”

The two pegasi chuckled and picked up their bags, keeping close as they walked. Suddenly, the crickets stopped chirping, and a pony jumped from the shadows, a black cape fluttering behind him. His mane was dyed black and slicked back, and his face powdered white. Sharp fangs, their tips tinged red, completed the classic vampony look.

“Greetings, visitors,” he intoned in a deep voice. “Welcome to your final destination. I am Open Grave. Shall I escort you to your coffins?”

“Hey, cuz,” Scootaloo said, smiling.

The vampony-costumed Open Hearth shrugged. “I knew I couldn’t fool you, Scootaloo. Acting’s definitely not my special talent, but I have gotten a few screams. It’s fun.”

“Are ponies enjoying the Nightmare Night theme?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, I only have last weekend to judge by, but so far the visitors have enjoyed it. And it gives them a reason to come to my camp when it’s not really camping weather,” Open Hearth said.

“I thought it would be fun,” Rumble said. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve cooked up!”

Open Hearth looked ready to comment, but Scootaloo held up a foreleg. “Not a word! I want to be surprised!” she said. She knew Snips and Snails were responsible for creating the illusions for the camp’s Nightmare Night attraction, and Sweetie Belle was involved in making it “suitably dramatic”. But since Scootaloo planned on visiting the camp, she asked everypony involved to keep mum.

“Okay, I promise to let you be surprised. Just like I was surprised to see this island be named a national monument,” Open Hearth said. “You promised to tell me about that when you got here, so spill it!”

Scootaloo shrugged. “I just wrote a letter to Princess Luna, where I mentioned that Sunny had recovered artifacts from the ruins of Freetown. As Princess Twilight Sparkle explained to me, Princess Luna regrets how her descent into nightmare led to the destruction of Freetown, not to mention a lot of other suffering, and a museum here on this island is a good way to preserve these memories for future generations of ponies.”

“Still, you just wrote a letter to Princess Luna?”

“You should try it,” Scootaloo said. “She’s more approachable than you might think. Of course, it helps that we have a stronger connection; she helped me get over my nightmares when I was younger. Oh, and no pressure or anything, but I heard Princess Luna may be visiting your camp this month.”

Open Hearth shuddered. “Sure. No pressure.”

“So what does that national monument thing mean?” Rumble asked.

“Not much, as I understand it. It means it will be hard to make any big changes on the island,” Open Hearth said. “In other words, there’s no longer any value to this land, in the eyes of those deceitful unicorns. So there’s that. But I’m more interested in the archaeological dig for next year.”

“Cool!” Scootaloo said. “It’ll all be like Daring Do!”

“I hope not!” Open Hearth said. “Anything involving going into the Everfree Forest is dangerous, of course, but I don’t think Nightmare Moon put death traps in the ruins. It’ll just be archeologists and guards working during the day, and sleeping here at night.”

“That’s great! You can use the camp for more months out of the year!” Scootaloo said.

Open Hearth nodded. “There was your idea of Nightmare Night festivities, and the archeologists staying next spring, and later, I’m thinking of students visiting the museum during the winter. It’s not going to be as profitable as the summers, but this additional revenue will help me keep the camp in business.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Scootaloo said.

“Thank you again for all your help, Scootaloo.” Open Hearth waved to a cabin, with a flourish of his cape. “Your coffin, my lovely guests,” he said, returning to his vampony accent. “And as you requested, I’ll let the surprises find you. Now, I must slake my thirst with the blood of the living!” With a sinister laugh, he departed.

Scootaloo and Rumble examined the cabin. A rather large fake spider was perched just above the door frame, and fake spiderwebs blocked part of the doorway. As she put her hoof on the step leading up to the door, an ominous creak sounded.

“Let me go first,” Rumble said chivalrously.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Oh, my hero.” Then she smirked. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Rumble entered the cabin, followed shortly by Scootaloo. More fake spiderwebs hung from the ceilings. A skeletal foreleg poked out from under the bunk bed. An eerie blue light briefly flared in the fireplace. All the while, the creaking sound persisted.

“See?” Rumble said. “Nothing to worry about....”

MRRRROOOOWWWW!

Rumble jumped into the air. Scootaloo flew up and caught him in her forelegs.

“Nothing to worry about? Really?” Scootaloo said, beaming.

“C-c-c-cat!” Rumble said.

“Okay. You come here now, Fluffy,” said a voice from behind them.

Scootaloo turned to see Sunny standing in the door frame. The cat ran past them and started rubbing affectionately against the older pegasus’ forelegs.

“Hey, Sunny! Thanks for bringing your cat to our cabin,” Scootaloo said.

Rumble pried himself out of Scootaloo’s forelegs and flew to the ground, giving her a dirty look. He brushed a hoof through his mane and adopted one of his “cool” poses, as if to counteract his less than glorious earlier display. “You’re looking healthy, Sunny,” he said.

“Thank you. No lightning mishaps this time,” she replied.

“Was that cat always your pet?” Rumble continued.

“No,” Sunny said. “He was a stray back when you visited last time. Mr. Open Hearth told me that you found a stray cat, so I went looking for him, and when I found him I gave him a nice home.”

“That’s nice,” Rumble said.

“So, will the madmare be making another appearance tonight?” Scootaloo asked Sunny.

The groundskeeper pegasus smiled. “Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” She went to leave, but turned her head and looked at the guests first. “Enjoy your evening. It may be your last!”

As if on cue, thunder rattled the cabin. It was hard to tell whether the thunder was real or illusionary, but the two campers didn’t care. “Well, I can think of no finer company for my last night on Equestria,” Rumble said as he closed the door.

Comments

[LilNightmare]

Such a cute story! I like the characterization as well. I think you wrote the CMC and other colts and fillies beautifully as adults. And though its not an alltime fave of mine I admit the RumbleScoots in this was well written, not to much not to little. So a thumbs up for you and Im adding it to my favorites shelf.

[redsopine]

I loved the horror theme