An Occurrence at Sleepy Hollow Cemetary

by Pigeonsmall

Old Sleepy Hollow

Chapter 1: Old Sleepy Hollow

“I dare you to sneak into the old cemetery place and come back out with proof you were there.”

The corner of Rainbow Dash’s mouth twitched only a fraction, but she was afraid it could have been enough to reveal the small flicker of hesitation. Seven other foals stood around, waiting for her to either take the challenge or forfeit the dare and therefore giving her point over to the colt who issued it.

“Oh is that all?” Rainbow Dash raised her hoof to gloat. “I could do that any day of the week!”

The brown pegasus colt smiled, as if he knew he had her cornered.

“You have to go at midnight—exactly midnight!” Several gasps followed, and a few whispers about how gloomy the cemetery looked at night. Rainbow Dash held her tongue, afraid an immediate rebuttal would come out more like a squeak than a growl. She was surrounded by a number of fillies and colts, most of them were earth ponies and unicorns from Ponyville and a few others, pegasus school mates from Cloudsdale. It had been a year since the day she had gotten her cutie mark and since then Rainbow Dash had been in a perpetual cycle, grooming her image as the coolest filly in Cloudsdale, in these types of situations where she was being looked on by possible admirers, she could not afford to lose her cool.

“I know you’ve got something snarky to say, Rainbow Crash!” The colt’s sneer was wide and toothy. “So come on, spit it out! Tell us how cool you are!” All the other foals watched her, waiting for a response.

“I—” This wasn’t starting on the right hoof. Dash’s voice caught in her throat as her internal thoughts blossomed with images of crooked tombstones, creaking metal fences, thick as soup fog, and the creatures that loved to dance just outside of your peripheral vision in the darkness.

“But Sleepy Hollow is off limits after midnight, don’t you know that?” a filly named Ginger who was also in on the game tried to caution them, but the colt didn’t listen.

“If you’re too chicken to go, Crash, just admit it. I promise we won’t laugh.” But it was too late, behind him a couple of fillies were already struggling to contain their giggle fits, most likely due to the ridiculous expression stuck on Dash’s face. Furrowed eyebrows and puffed out cheeks as if she were holding in a giant build up of dragon’s breath.

‘Dammit Dumbbell, one day I’m going to kick your flank so hard it’ll break inwards’

A little white filly jumped in between them. Her eyes were bright and her smile extra wide, revealing a set of front teeth that were larger than the average as she trotted in place excitedly, gaining everyone’s attention.

“You’re both going out to find the ghost of Sleepy Hollow? That is so cool! Can I come?”

Dumbbell rolled his eyes. “She has to go alone, Quack.”

The little white filly wilted slightly but tried to save face. “I promise I won’t get in the way.”

“Wait a minute.” Dash’s ears pricked forward. “What ghost?”

Quackers turned her way. “You don’t know about it? Oh, well I guess you wouldn’t. It’s more an earth pony thing.”

“I don’t care. If I have to go to this Sleepy Hollow place then I wanna know about it.” A few other foals, most of them earth ponies, were also interested, so bolstered by an audience,Quackers told them:

“There are some ponies who say Ponyville was terrorized by a cannibal back when this place was still new, and you could hardly tell the difference between safe forest and the Everfree. When the big town hall at the center of the town was a big wet pile of lumber, there was a pony, a stallion I think. He was really old, but really strong too! He practically built half of ponyville by himself! But he didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t as strong as he used to be. He didn’t like that at all. Anyway, nopony knew that he wasn’t like…well, normal. And that he often went off into the forest to hunt rabbits and squirrels.”

One filly flinched. “You mean he…ate bunnies?”

“Yep, and birds too, I think, if he could catch them.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what was worse: her new rolling visions of a blood-smeared earth pony burying his teeth into raw flesh or the fact that right in front of her, Quackers didn’t seem phased at all. In fact she looked excited just to be talking.

“But anyway,” Quackers continued. “Nopony were suspicious of anything because he would always come out of the forest looking fine. He probably got cleaned up in the stream, though a few noticed he never touched the food laid out at the big communal dinners. No, he would just stand off to the side and…watch the unicorns.”

“Um...why unicorns?” A little yellow unicorn named Banana Splash tilted her ears back cautiously.
“Be quiet and maybe you’ll find out!” shushed Ginger as Quackers continued.

“My dad says when Ponyville was being built and stuff, there weren’t a lot of unicorns because most of them still lived in Canterlot, but there were a few. That the old earth stallion would watch them, real strange like. But still, he didn’t bother anypony and nopony minded his weirdness, until one day those unicorns disappeared. Not all at once but one at a time. There was at least a family, first the mom, then the child, and when the dad went mad looking for them, he ran into the forest and didn’t come back.”

Banana Splash gasped and hid her nose between her front hooves, quivering slightly.

“How did anyone find out?” a colt asked.

“They found bones while out cutting down trees. A lot of rabbit bones, a few bird bones, all over the ground, you know. At first, they didn’t think it was too big of a deal. They knew bears lived in the forest but they were rare and were afraid of ponies. Not a one was seen during the three search parties. Each time they went out they covered more ground. But one day the leader of the town and a few others went deep into White Tail Woods and that’s when they saw it.”

“Saw what?” Rainbow Dash and the colt and filly all asked in unison, their bodies were tense.

“The unicorn bones. Next to a fire pit that was long burnt out. They found out it was the cannibal when the next unicorn went missing, a posse made a beeline for that exact same spot and caught him in the act! They rescued the poor unicorn a-and they...” Quackers paused and looked down at her hooves solemnly.

“Yeah? What did they do?” Dumbbell stamped his hoof down as he demanded.

“They dragged him back to Ponyville and put him on trial. He confessed to eating those unicorns. A monster or a spirit, or something, told him he would live forever because unicorns have magic in their blood. He was executed three days later.” For emphasis, Quackers put her hooves up against her throat and made a pained expression with one eye squeezed shut, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. “They hanged him!”

It was a sharp silence that followed. None of them moved or whispered or even coughed.

“His body was the first buried in Sleepy Hollow but they didn’t mark his grave, but oh, he’s there.” Quackers said. “And the legend is…on the midnight of the new moon—”

The fact that the new moon was that very night resurfaced in Rainbow Dash’s brain.

“—his ghost wanders through White Tail woods, searching for lost ponies. And if he finds one he takes their bodies all for himself!”

Everyone flinched and at that moment a heavy breeze bustled past, disturbing their manes and the tree branches overhead.

“I’ll do it. I’m not scared of some stupid cemetery,” Rainbow Dash spoke in defiance. “But since I’m in the lead in this game, I’ve got one condition.”

Dumbbell’s haughty smile lost some of its vibrance, turning into more of a scowl. “What condition?”

It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to smile as she pointed a hoof at the brown colt. “You’ve got to come with me.”

There was a hushed gasp which stretched across the circle of ponies, accented by one or two hasty whispers. Dumbbell looked as if Rainbow Dash had just insulted his mother and was hanging onto his poise for dear life.

“W-why me?” he demanded.

“Think about it, does anypony here even know what the inside of a morgue looks like? I could bring back any old thing and none of you could confirm or deny I actually went there.”

All of the fillies and colts went silent.

“And besides, most likely there won’t be any way inside and if that’s the case, as it most likely is, then a witness can vouch for me.” Rainbow Dash set an icy stare Dumbbell’s way. “And that might as well be you.”

Dumbbell’s ears went flat as the trickle of laughter washed over his head. Rainbow Dash knew she had cornered him in his own trap. Backing out now would brand him a coward, something any other colt could survive as his friends would understand their unwillingness to trek down to the graveyard after midnight. But Dumbbell was a complete blowhard, always finding some way to put himself at the center of attention and took pains to elevate his accomplishments above any others.

“But if you’re too chicken to go—”

“Shut up, Crash,” Dumbbell cut her off and brushed past her so harshly he nearly knocked her flat. “Let’s just go already. I ain’t afraid of no graveyard.”

A filly stepped up as if to follow and stopped mid-stride, seeming to hesitate. Her nervous smile seemed to reflect the anxious mood of the other colts and fillies.

“Well I guess it’s all settled. We’ll see you both tomorrow!” She waved at them and galloped off. The remaining foals did the same, going their own separate ways to find some entertainment in the waning day. Dumbbell and Quackers stayed behind, the later let her ears dip a little.

“I can come with you, if you want some company,” she said. Rainbow smiled appreciatively but the back of her mind was trying to think of an excuse. The little buck toothed pony was a real scatter brain and Dash wasn’t sure if she could handle both her and the bullheaded dork.

“Nah it’s okay. I’ll be fine!” she said. “Besides, it might feel less scary if there’s three of us.”

Quackers frown turned into a knowing smile, as if she really did want Rainbow Dash to experience something special, and galloped away. Then only Dumbbell was left who was marching away from her at a heated pace.

“You’re going the wrong way, idiot,” Rainbow Dash quipped and trotted in the opposite direction. She heard him stop and turn around to catch up.

“It’s not like I see this place from the ground as much as you do,” he complained.

“Well you ought to, it's actually pretty cool down here.” said Rainbow Dash, but Dumbbell dismissed her with a snort. Dash rolled her eyes. Maybe forcing him along wasn’t the best idea, not that there was any chance at going back; if she tried she might never hear the end of it.

The day was cooling, the sky set in a dark evening blue and the light just beginning to mute. It wouldn’t be long before the moon traded places with the sun. Dash noticed the road they were on was empty, which would make taking a certain shortcut a lot easier.

“Hey, come on, follow me!” she said and flew off the path going west into a big open field.

“Where are you going?”

“Just follow me! It’s already getting dark and I know a shortcut!”

They flew over the field and stopped at a wooden fence which stretched the length of the field from the Ponyville schoolyard to the Everfree Forest. Laying beyond it was a massive field of apple trees.

“Wow, what’s this place?” Dumbbell stood upright, letting his forelegs rest on top of the fence post.

Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate and jumped over the fence and walked into the rows of tall apple trees.

“This place is called Sweet Apple Acres, it’s the biggest farm around here,” said Dash. “If we cut through it from here we’ll save time, so lets get a move on.” She took another step, paused, and turned around. “And before you even think about it, don’t steal any of the—”

Dumbbell was hovering near a middle branch where a set of red juicy fruits hung invitingly. He eyed them greedily and reached out to pluck one.

“I said don’t touch those!”

Dumbbell stopped short, resting the flat of his hoof on the fruit. His eyes glittered with impertinence when he turned back to her. In one swift motion he plucked the apple, brought it to his mouth, and took the largest bite possible. After a few solid chews he looked down with a smile and tossed the apple back and forth between his hooves.

“Sorry I didn’t catch ya. What were you saying?”

“I said don’t touch the apples,” she growled.

“Oh.” Dumbbell looked at the apple and shrugged. “Okay.” And he tossed the barely eaten fruit into the dirt like a rock. Rainbow Dash managed to keep herself from launching straight at him.

“It wasn’t ripe enough anyway.” Dumbbell said with a wry expression, still tasting the fruit on his tongue. He looked up and grimaced. “Aw man, it’s already getting dark.”

“Because you’re slowing us up more than a dead turtle!”

“What?” the colt touched down in front of Dash with a sneer. “I don’t hold anypony up!”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh really? Then prove it!”

Dumbbell frowned and opened his wings. “You’re on!” And they kicked off at the same time.

By the time they reached the end of the orchard, the sun had nearly set. Only a trace amount of light remained in the sky. It was more than enough still to notice the tiny foot trail leading into the dense wall of oak trees that met them like solid silent monolith of nature. The two foals hesitated on the orchard side of the fence. Peering over it, they could only see about twenty yards into the trees, which were lined so thickly, beyond was nothing but a blue black canvas.

“Wow it’s dark in there.” Rainbow Dash shifted her gaze to the shadowy tree tops. “Why don’t we just fly over it?” she asked.

Dumbbell leaped over the fence and found the little dirt trail. “What’s the fun in that?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “So that we know where we’re going!”

The colt flew up and over the tree tops, escaping Rainbow’s line of sight for a few moments. Half a minute later he came back, landing next to her with ease. “I know which way to go, there’s another trail real close by. Go on and look, if you fly up high enough you can see the top of the chapel.”

She checked herself and sure enough she could just make out the pin needle like spire sticking out through the tree tops, only slightly.

“We should just fly over,” said Rainbow Dash. “Nobody would see us.”

“Fine if you’re too much of a coward to just walk then I’ll meet you there.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what upset her more, Dumbbell actually wanting to take the slow way or him calling her a coward. Her back stiffened and she grit her teeth. “Why do you want to walk anyway?”

“Why are you such a baby?” he retorted. “It’s not like we’re going through the Everfree Forest.” He had already started in, pushing past the low scraggling branches and leaf litter that covered the trail. A sudden breeze whistled and rattled the branches, making them sway and bow like claws that wanted to pick them up the way some birds snatched up a mouse. Rainbow Dash stood in the open and contemplated flying over the trees, or better yet, going home and letting Dumbbell wander around in the forest until sun up if he wanted. But she could already imagine what he would tell the others and with a sigh of resignation she followed him in.

To Dash’s surprise, Dumbbell was correct. The little rabbit trail curved into the much larger trail and cut down the middle of White Tail Woods. The trail was wide and well worn and further down was a juncture with a large sign sitting right in the middle.

Near the top of the sign post, on a slab of wood pointing east, the name of their destination was printed boldly. ‘Sleepy Hollow Cemetary’ it read, when Rainbow Dash read the words another breeze caught her mane, ruffling it earnestly. Dumbbell took the lead and went down the eastern trail first, saying they needed to hurry before it got too dark to see.

“So do all earth ponies do this?” Dumbbell asked curiously. Rainbow Dash shot him a questioning side glance.

“Do what?”

“Why do earth ponies bury all of their dead underground?” he reiterated. “I mean that’s a lot of holes to dig isn’t it?”

Rainbow Dash grimaced and shrugged. “And you’re asking me for what reason?”

The colt frowned though he responded without a hitch. “Geeze, I just thought you’d know. You spend all your time down here with that scared yellow pony anyway.”

For some reason, mostly because he was a jerk, Dumbbell would never call Fluttershy by her real name. Something else that always frustrated Rainbow Dash. It was either ‘Klutzershy’ or ‘the klutz’, names meant to make the shy pony feel bad, but with time and a few knocks on the head later, Dumbbell finally internalized the fact that it was best to not use those terms when she was in hearing distance.

“Me and Fluttershy don’t spend our time in graveyards,” she stated.

“It probably takes a long time to bury a pony, and wouldn’t they eventually run out of space?” Dumbbell continued. “I mean eventually all of Equestria would just be one big graveyard. Cremating seems a lot easier.”

Cremation was the typical way most pegasi dealt with their dead. It was impossible to bury anyone in a cloud city, so besides the option of using mountain crypts, spreading ashes to the wind became the most popular method of honoring the dead.

“Earth ponies grow stuff. Do you think their special talent is to be fertilizer?”

Rainbow Dash turned to him incredulously. “What?”

“I dunno, I mean what other reason is there to put dead ponies in the dirt?” He stopped for a moment and pawed at the dirt under hoof. “Otherwise isn’t it a real waste of ground?”

“I don’t want to waste my time going down your line of thought, Dumbbell.”

“Or you think this could be some big conspiracy by the earth ponies to take over Equestria?”

“What are you talking about?”

Dumbbell jumped ahead and turned in front of her in excitement. “Zombie takeover!”

“No.” Dash said, she managed to be calm. “That’s stupid.”

The colt’s brows furrowed but he still smiled. “You can be as boring as a stick sometimes.”

Rainbow huffed and ran past him. “That’s just the effect you have!”

Jesting and ribbing the young foals raced down the old funeral trail, used many times by ponies still mourning their dead.

---

After five minutes running at a gallop, Rainbow Dash and Dumbbell reached the cemetery. The trees pulled back and tapered as the road cleared into a big open courtyard. A wall shielded the north side, framed by tall leaning ash and oak trees. Just over the courtyard wall they could still see an army of trees, and even further away and high above, the deep blue mountains of the Unicorn Range.

There were no tombstones on the lawn, but a well stood between them and the building, partitioned by a clumsily erected wooden fence with a wide gap between two of the poles. Directly behind the well, at the very top of the hill, was the chapel. lt sat quaint and unassuming, built out of sandy brick and topped with a blue shingled roof. A steeple sprung out on the east side of the structure, and a small metal chimney poked out of the west. A row of violets ran around the perimeter, only stopping at the opening to a tall oak door.

“Doesn’t look like much does it?” Dumbbell said under his breath. They were both squatting down behind a set of wild orange berry bushes, peeking over to try and see through the windows, but the windows were black, it was too dark to see inside from a distance. Another minute passed before they nodded to each other and crept forward at the same time. The place did look lonely but it had to be maintained by somepony. The grass was cut and the row of violets were not cluttered by weeds.

Dash made it to the tall window first. It was high off of the ground so she had to fly up and land on the narrow sil to see inside. The interior was swathed in deep shadows, what could be seen was simple. It was a small sterile room with a long counter that curved back like a ‘U’, cutting the room in half. In the half nearest the windows and the front door there were four chairs, or actually single sitting benches with no cushion, and a very tiny waiting table wedged in between two of them. There was nothing else to be said about the front half of the room but Dash could easily tell, even in the darkness, that there was a doorway behind the counter. She tried to concentrate on the opening, maybe she could make out some shapes on the other side. Instead of making out anything discerning, Dash felt a prickle of tension penetrate her blue fur and pinch her spine, and her breath hitched ever so slightly.

“Do you see anything?”

Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her skin when Dumbbell’s brown coat, appearing almost black in the falling light landed on the sil right next to her. To her relief she was able to contain her surprise and Dumbbell hadn’t noticed, he pressed his nose against the glass and squinted his eyes into a comical shape in an effort to see something on the other side.

“The door’s locked,” he muttered after he pulled his nose away from the glass. Rainbow Dash tried to appear disappointed by this but inwardly she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

“Too bad I guess,” she said with a slight smile. But then Dumbbell jumped off the ledge and performed a cursory glance of the lawn before turning back to face her.

“Too bad? Huh, it’s not over yet until we find another way in!” He ran around to the back of the building, leaving Rainbow Dash to teeter nervously on the edge of the window sil until she finally dropped off. She landed and stamped her hoof down angrily.

‘Is he serious?’

In such a short amount of time the moon was already in the sky, surrounded by stars. They were concentrating so hard on their current task that neither of them even noticed the change, and their vision relied solely upon it . It was something Rainbow Dash was not comfortable with.

She followed the colt around, barely noticing the rickety little gate she had to pass over to reach the rear of the chapel. The ground it was built on sloped gradually into what Rainbow Dash first assumed to be a wheat field before her eyes finally registered what she was seeing. Before she found Dumbbell she saw the cemetery first, the view was enough to give her pause. This was the first time she had ever seen such a place. It was like a massive post card had fell on top of the forest and crushed the trees under its weight, leaving behind a bewildering site. Rows upon row of headstones, narrow square and round-ish rocks poking out of the ground at odd angles moving as a wave does on the slopes and rises of the hilly country below them. It was vast and it all felt forlorn.

“What are you daydreaming about, Crash? Get over here!”

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her drifting imagination and found Dumbbell by the chapel again. Next to him, there were two large cellar doors set in cement. He already had one door open, cautiously inspecting the inside.

“You know it’s going to be way too dark in there to see!” Rainbow protested, hoping more and more that he would get as nervous as her and leave. “I’m not interested in tripping and breaking my nose because I’m walking blind.”

Dumbbell took her words into consideration as he rubbed the bottom of his chin. “You make a good point, hmm” His ears tilted while he thought and Rainbow Dash sat, waiting for him to admit defeat.

“Wait here.” he said and flew back around to the front of the chapel before Rainbow could say anything. Somewhere nearby a cricket chirped twelve times before he returned with two small lanterns in hoof.

“Hit the jackpot!” He put the lanterns down in front of the cellar door and struck a pose, exceedingly proud of himself. To Rainbow Dash he looked like a dog who was happy he had fetched a stick.

“This place is so quiet, nopony even put a lock on the shed door. Heh, lucky break.”

“Lucky break.” Rainbow Dash snatched one of the small lanterns away. “Right.”

“Aw, don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves.” Dumbbell teased. He turned the knob to release the gas in the lantern and a small flame breathed to life.

“No way, you wish!” Rainbow Dash pulled the other lantern close and copied his actions. It was easy for Dash to pull up some reserve of bravado, if Dumbbell wanted to play tough, she could play his game for as long as he wanted. She looked down into the open cellar. Even when she held up her lantern it barely put a dent in the gloom, but she was able to see the stairs.

“It’ll be easy. We just go in, pick something up, and walk out. Easy.” Dumbbell held his light source up and took his first step into the unknown. The unease fell over Rainbow Dash like a sheet. She glanced behind them in a sudden fit of paranoia. What if the groundskeeper was around and had not made himself known?

They slowly made their way down with Dumbbell in the lead. The stairs were wooden and thankfully sturdy so they did not groan under their weight, granted they were both fairly light. Rainbow Dash could practically smell exposed soil and maybe mildew. Soon they were in what they perceived to be the basement. It was dirt brown, nothing like the clean office she had seen through the window, this was nothing more than a dirt floor and stone brick walls supported by two pillars on the farthest sides and a big archway. Under that arch stood another big door, it looked very ancient, and as they approached, Rainbow Dash felt her heart beat grow faster. From what she could tell, Dumbbell’s eyes were full of wonder, maybe mixed with a little bit of the fear she felt. Perhaps his bravado was finally tempered.

“This is it.” Dumbbell put the lantern down and reached for the knob. “If it doesn’t open, we’ll give up, you ready?”

Rainbow Dash would never admit it, but she felt a slight panic setting like badly digested food in her stomach. Maybe she really was afraid of what they might see, but at the same time she felt strong. She wanted to be the cool filly with rumors to spread. She wanted to start a freaking legend about the dark mysteries of the place where earth ponies prepare their loved ones for burial, and all of her classmates would clamour forward just to tell her how brave she was.

“Yeah, let’s do this.” She moved forward, forcing herself to stand strong in front of those imposing wooden doors.

‘I will not be afraid... I will not be afraid. Be the cool pony. Be the hero.’

She nodded a final time. Dumbbell took a deep breath, and turned the knob ever so slightly. The door reacted exactly the way they expected a big lonely basement door would. With a long deep creek, as it slowly opened.

Author's Note:

I decided to try my luck at writing a story for October. Or at least start one. I was feeling the spirit of Andrew Gold's Spooky Scary Skeletons a bit early.

Can you hear the xylophones?

Comments

[Vexy]

Cute.

[Rainbow87dash]

5083071 Very cute

[StarLadybugQuinn]

I like this story it is Halloween theme YAY uh I mean yay.☺️

[Imperaxum]

Very nice so far. I'm assuming this story is in the same universe as When Two Hearts are Daring, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite series on this site.

Just behind Across the Sea, in fact. I wonder if it's time for more fanfics of fanfics...

[Those Kids In The Corner]

I've been waiting for quite awhile for you to post something from this fic-universe. Was not disappointed Can't wait till next chapter.

[Pigeonsmall]

5083836

Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up in a reasonable time frame!

[Vexy]

Featured box? Aww, sweet!

[Pigeonsmall]

5084136

Yeah...by some strange anomaly of nature.

[PrinnyLover101]

a great way to start October.