Campfire Show and Scare
“...And then,” Prism continued, leaning back, “the Olden Pony asked, ‘Who’s got my rusty horseshoe?’” he said in a in mimicked spookily old voice as he rubbed his forehoof together.
Despite already having heard that story, Starburst still shook a little when Prism suddenly exclaimed “You do!” while pointing at somepony on the other side of the campfire. Still though, most of the others were much more startled than her. Somepony screamed, Candy even jumped away from the campfire… yes, everypony had been frightened in one manner or another…
… except for the one lying next to her, Starfall, who yawned.
Prism, who was sitting close to them in the circle around the fire, frowned. Starfall had probably noticed, because as he rested his head on a foreleg he said: “Sorry, I meant no offense. It’s just that this story gets boring after having heard it about a gazillion times.”
“‘Gazillion?’” Whirlwind asked, looking from behind Prism.
Although Starburst and Starfall, mindful of what everypony would say if they were away for too long, had only spent about an hour or so... alone, when they got back to the camp they’ve learned that quite a bit had happened. Apparently, not only Prism and Nidra, but Whirlwind and Hot Head had also broken up - actually, according to what Annie told Starburst, Hot Head broke up with her - and the red pegasus had taken a page from Nidra’s book and also left. Whether everything that happened after the three pegasus had their race, or during, or even had they broken up earlier was anypony’s guess.
Almost equally mysterious was whether this meant that Prism and Whirlwind were back together. To Starburst, they didn’t act different from before all this mess of a camping trip, when they were friends. However, according to the Gossip Trinity (Annie, Candy, Claire) the two pegasi were a lot friendlier toward one another, and apparently hadn’t left each others’ side since they came back to the camp, which raised their suspicions.
But Starburst didn’t really care. To be honest, the whole situation between Prism, Whirlwind, Nidra and Hot Head reminded her too much of a sub-plot of a dumb soap opera she had seen her mom and aunt Rarity watching once. Thinking too much about it was almost making her head physically hurt. If they were together, then great. If those break ups weren’t as calm as they made them sound, then that’s bad, but their other friends were much better prepared to cheer them up later.
What she did care about, though, was the comment Claire had made after letting her know about Whirlwind and Hot Head. “Hm, it would seem that fate is two for two now,” she had said, her head facing the direction where the two pegasi stood… but her eyes glancing in Starburst’s direction.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she meant, Claire was referring to their earlier talk, when she had expressed a worry regarding hers and Starfall’s relationship. If they were alone, Starburst would have retorted in some manner, but almost everypony else was within earshot. She really didn’t want to listen to them voicing their opinions on this matter. And besides, she wasn’t sure if she wanted Starfall to know others were worried about their relationship. Celestia knows how he would react, she had thought, rolling her eyes. He could laugh it up, get upset, or play pranks on them… Starburst had glanced back at Claire. Come to think of it, maybe I should tell him…
Back in the present moment, her coltfriend turned to address Whirlwind. “There was a ‘Haunted Stable’ in the circus, I had to help there from time to time. They had all those attractions inside based on the stories like the Olden Pony. Heck,” he snorted, “the old hag playing her actually could have been the Olden Pony for all I know. What?” Starfall asked when several ponies, Starburst included, frowned at him. He rolled his eyes after a heartbeat. “She was mean and once threw a pot at me, so you’ll forgive me for not speaking of her warmly.”
“Why did she threw a pot at you?” Starburst asked, narrowing her eyes.
Starfall smiled awkwardly. “Well… I sorta threw her beddings out the window of the train. But I didn’t mean to!” he added quickly while Starburst rolled her eyes and some others chuckled. “I was roped into that by one of the bat ponies from the circus.”
“Mhm, and why don’t I believe you?” Starburst asked, leaning on her forehoof.
Her coltfriend blinked. “That’s a good point,” he said, pointing a hoof at her. “Why don’t you believe me?” Starburst blushed, but before she could reply, he chuckled. “Kidding. But back to Nightcrawler, that bat pony, he wasn’t much older than me, so I tried to hang out with him when I could. Sadly, he was a bit of a jerk, so-”
“So that’s where you get that from?” Prism interrupted him, smirking.
“Nah, I probably get that from years of abuse,” Starfall replied without missing a beat. “Anyway, weren’t you about to start another scary story?”
“Don’t patronize me,” Prism told him, then turned to the rest, pondering. “Hm, what do you say about ‘the Headless Horse’?” he asked, changing his voice again to sound more creepy.
Starfall tilted his head. “You mean Harry? I always wondered what happened to him after the circus broke up.”
Seeing all of her friends look at him with confusion and disbelief, Starburst sighed. “He’s joking,” she said, deadpanning.
The unicorn chuckled. “How did you know?”
“You mean aside from that it would be impossible for a horse to live without a head?” Starburst asked, smirking at him. “I got the feeling you wouldn’t ‘wonder’ about what happened to anypony from that circus, and certainly not ‘always’.”
“Well, you’re half right,” he told her, poking her tongue at her. “There were two I had considered friends in there.”
“Really?” Starburst asked, surprised. “I would have thought you’d have mention them by now.”
“I already mentioned the bat pony,” he replied, then shrugged. “As for the other, I didn’t want to bring her up ‘cause she’s dead and you all were already mopey about my mom and stuff.”
“Oh…” Starburst exclaimed, her ears dropping. Given what she knew Starfall had been through with that circus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that somepony died, but still... “I’m sorry-”
“And there we go,” Starfall sighed tiredly, forcing her to deadpan at him with irritation. “Can somepony tell us a scary story to liven up the air here?”
Starburst opened her mouth, wanting to tell him that he shouldn’t bottle up things like that, but before she could speak, a voice (whose sound reminded her that they weren’t alone actually) replied: “Oh, I think I know of a good story.”
She looked at Candy, to whom the voice belonged. The earth pony mare straightened up and smiled confidently. Starburst wondered briefly why she chose to tell a story rather than let them continue or, worse, interject. Also, why did she say “good” like that?
As others voiced their support for Candy to tell a scary story next, she leaned closer to Starfall’s ear. “We’ll continue this later,” she whispered.
Starfall nodded to her. To her surprise, he no longer appeared annoyed, but worried instead. “Am I in trouble?”
“What? No, I just want to talk about this,” she told him.
“Oh, okay,” he sighed quietly with relief.
As much as Starburst wanted to know why he reacted like that, on the other side of the campfire Candy was about to start her story. A bit reluctantly, she sat up to better see her friend, curious what kind of story it could be.
Candy took a deep breath and brushed her mane with a hoof as she started. “This… is the story the Fall of Autumn Family,” she said in a scary voice.
“So which is it, fall or autumn?” Prism asked jokingly which earned him a stab from Whirlwind’s wing. He looked at her strangely, cleared his throat, and said: “Sorry.”
The earth pony mare stick her tongue out in reply before resuming her serious demeanor. “It was a grey autumn day-”
Starburst quickly glanced at Prism; with just the campfire providing light, it was hard to tell, but she could swear she could see him pressing his lips together, as if to stop himself from interrupting again.
“-and the sky was full of large black clouds. The chariot had ridden through flat and uninteresting countryside, but at last, as it began to grow dark, the pony inside saw the end of her journey...
“A sickly smile came over Autumn’s lips, and he spoke in a low hurried voice,” Candy said, her voice eerily quiet. Starburst shook, knowing she was about to get even creepier. “She put her head close to Autumn’s to catch his words. ‘Don’t I hear it?’” as earlier, when Candy began speaking as Lord Autumn, her voice fell to barely a whisper, “- yes, I hear it, and I have heard it.”
Starburst tightened her grip on Starfall’s hoof. As much as she’d hate to admit it, she was actually scared by this story. And she wasn’t the only one; as Starburst looked around the campfire, she was sure that everypony was spooked. Next to them, Prism and Whirlwind were shaking, cuddled together, their eyes on Candy. T, who seemed more scared than Annie, held on to her like a foal would their doll. June was pressing her side against Valiant, who wrapped his wing around her shoulders. Del, who couldn’t hug his marefriend for comfort, was biting his hoof. Illusion was listening intensively, but the twitch of his tail betrayed that he was too unsettled, while Claire scratched the ground under her with her claws. Starburst glanced at her coltfriend beside her; his red eyes were wide open as he stared at Candy.
And all of them were curious as to what was about to happen in this story. Starburst returned her attention to Candy, wanting to know just what had put Lord Autumn into such terror...
“For many minutes, many hours, many days I have heard it - but I was too frightened, too frightened to speak. We have put her alive into her coffin!”
Somepony shrieked; several ponies, in fact. And Starburst couldn’t be sure if her own voice hadn’t been among them. As she felt shiver go down her spine, a part her mind noticed that she now also had a wing wrapped around Starfall.
“‘Did I not tell you that I could hear even the softest sound?’” Candy continued; her scary whisper beginning to hold a note of fear in itself. “‘I tell you now that I heard her move in the coffin. I heard the sounds many days ago, but my terror was too great - I could not speak! And now tonight - as you read about Commander Hurricane breaking the old pony’s door, about the cry of the dragon, and the falling of the gates - it was, in fact, the breaking of her coffin, the scream of metal as she broke open the vault, and ringing crash as the metal door fell to the floor! Oh, where can I escape to? Is she hurrying towards me at this very minute? Is that her angry hoofstep that I can hear on the stairs? Can I hear the heavy and terrible beating of her heart? MADMARE!’”
Everypony jumped as Candy’s whisper suddenly transformed into a shout. The storytelling mare also rose and stood on her hindlegs, continuing her story.
“Lord Autumn jumped up and shouted,” Candy said, in her normal voice, “screaming out his words like a pony dying in terror. ‘MADMARE! I TELL YOU THAT AT THIS MINUTE SHE IS STANDING OUTSIDE THIS DOOR!’” Candy paused for a few heartbeats and look around her friends, letting the fear sink into them. “As Lord Autumn screamed those words, the heavy door was thrown open by the strong wind. There, outside, dressed in the white clothes of the dead, stood the tall figure of the Lady Magnificent of Autumn. There was blood on her hooves, her legs, her coat, her torn white clothes. Every part of her body showed the marks of her long fight to escape from the coffin. For a moment she stood there shaking, moving slowly from side to side. Then, with a low cry, she fell heavily onto her brother! And, in the moment of her now final death, he fell with her to the floor - a dead stallion, killed by his own terror.” Candy exhaled air deeply and smiled. “That’s it!” she said, returning to her normal happy voice. “So, did you like it?”
Starburst stopped shaking and tried to relax, knowing the story was over. She wanted to reply, but before she could, she realized something. Namely, that her forelegs and one wing were tightly wrapped around Starfall, and his forelegs in turn were wrapped around her. Starburst turned to look at him, and found him turning his head as well, looking into her eyes. They stayed like this for a heartbeat, before both smiled awkwardly and chuckled. Starfall gave her a quick kiss before they untangled themselves and turned their attention back to Candy.
“Did we like it?” Prism, who recovered faster, asked from beside Whirlwind. “Candy, that was awesome! Where did you hear that story?”
“Oh, well,” Candy replied, blushing with an embarrassment, “I sorta made it up myself.”
Everypony gasped in surprise. “Darling, that’s amazing!” Claire exclaimed. “You should become a writer! Though I admit, dear, I wouldn’t have imagined such a happy pony like you writing such a scary story.”
“Aw, thanks Claire,” Candy giggled, thought Starburst wasn’t sure if she was pleased with her comment or was it because Del hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “Maybe I will. But yeah, I would definitely work on something not so gloomy.”
They stayed like this for a while - close to the campfire, their only light source - praising Candy, before Claire raised her voice. “Ah, when did it get so late? Since we’re packing up our camp and heading back tomorrow morning, darlings, I think we should all go to our tents and sleep, wouldn’t you agree?”
“But that’s even more of a reason to stay up longer!” Annie pointed out, with several others supporting.
“I just thought that maybe it would be better to rest properly, dear. If you all prefer to continue partying a bit more, be my guests,” Claire said, shrugging.
“Thanks, mom,” Prism smirked, causing Whirlwind to snort with laughter.
Claire, however, wasn’t so amused. The half-dragon glared at Prism coldly, then glanced at Starfall. “Starfall dear, would you mind lending me that saw you used in your show?”
Starburst chuckled seeing Prism’s eyes widen in terror. “Hm, I would have to go get it,” Starfall replied thoughtfully. “It would only take about ten seconds though.”
“Hm I see,” Claire hummed. “Well, I suppose we don’t need it that badly… for now…”
Prism rolled his eyes and was about to reply, but Illusion spoke up. “You know, I could always just conjure a replica of that saw.”
“Okay, fine, no more jokes, geez,” Prism sighed, grimacing.
Illusion smirked, then looked at Starfall. “Anyway, since the subject of your show had been brought up, would you consider putting a smaller one? It seems like a great way to end our camping trip.”
“Illusion’s right,” Annie said, smirking. “Come now, surely you have some tricks up your sleeve.”
“I don’t wear sleeves,” Starfall replied, smirking. “Bu-ut, I might have been thinking of something… would you like to see?” he asked nopony in particular.
“Well duh!” Candy exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “We all liked your show!”
“Except maybe for Prism,” Whirlwind said, giggling.
“Volunteer to help him next time, we’ll see how much you’ll enjoy it,” Prism countered, though he said so with a surprisingly good humor.
Is it me, or are those two flirting? Starburst wondered briefly, before returning her attention to Starfall.
After a few more ponies said they’d like to see what he had prepared (with Annie pointing out that she wouldn’t be able to see it, of course), Starfall nodded. “Alright then,” he said as she stood up on his hind legs and raised his voice; “gather all for the performance of Starfall, Master of the Impossible!”
“Master of the Impossible?” Starburst asked, raising an eyebrow. “Wasn’t your title Magnificent God something something?”
“Well yes, but that was a mouthful, so I’m trying something simpler,” he replied waving his hoof casually. “Now, I’ll need to focus, so you must be all very quiet, okay?”
Without waiting for a reply he sat down and closed his eyes. Starburst noticed the others glancing at her, but all she could do was shrug, as curious as them what he had in store for them.
His horn began to glow… and in the same instant, the campfire changed color to match his magic.
Despite already being familiar with how his magic affected fire, Starburst still gasped at the sight. Their campfire wasn’t really big, especially since it had been a while since they added any firewood to it, but it was still roughly the size of a pony. To see it shimmering now with so many different colors, from so close…
As if reading her thoughts, at Starfall’s command tongues of fire rose from it and began to crawl through the air, heading towards ponies around it. Recalling what he had done during his show, Starburst lifted a hoof and tried to touch it. As she expected, she didn’t get burned, though the flame was warm. The tongue of fire encircled her hoof-
“Would you mind?!”
Starburst glanced quickly at Prism. He was glaring angrily at Starfall, and had a foreleg and a wing wrapped around Whirlwind. The purple pegasus was leaning against him, trying to move away from the flames.
The fire pulsated, and for a brief second Starburst felt the heat increase. “Crap,” she heard Starfall mutter. When she looked at him, he was still keeping his eyes closed, but his brows furrowed and he bit his lip in concentration “Sorry!” he called out, as he he made the flames back away from everypony and fly up.
Starburst was relieved to see Whirlwind sigh and relax the moment Starfall took the fire away. She noticed Prism whisper to her something, but she was too far away to make out what that was. Starburst had no doubt if she’d look at Candy, she’d see the mare looking at them thoughtfully and quickly tell Annie what she saw. Not interested in their scheming, she turned her attention back to the fire…
… which was now gathered into a globe and suspended above Starfall left forehoof.
As much as she trusted Starfall, she still took a cautious step back. If Starfall took notice, he didn’t react, and instead continued with his performance. He now outstretched his other forelegs, and his horn began to shine a bit brighter. However, it didn’t seem as if he was doing anything.
A noise from the direction of the river and a gasp from one of her friends made her figure out what he was doing.
A blob of water levitated towards Starfall, held by his magic. Starburst stared as it passed her and began to gather above his right forehoof, forming a globe, similar to the fire one.
“Behold!” Starfall suddenly exclaimed, almost startling her. “On my left, fire! On my right, water! Now! Watch, as I merge the two together…”
… with a touch of magic, Starburst finished in her thoughts. I hope it’s not another Jōki Cōlt. She still remembered the creepy magic puppet that Starfall had created in the exact manner, except it was made from water and oil. More importantly, she still remembered how it exploded almost right in her and her little brother’s faces. Except he jumped right between us and the explosion and sent it away… That was really amazing. Did I even thank him for that?
She snapped back to attention, not wanting to miss… whatever Starfall was doing. Starburst looked as the globe of fire moved to hover in front of her coltfriend, while water, on the other hoof, broke and enveloped around the flames. The light of the fire, obscured by water, shimmered beautifully.
“Is it safe to do that?” she heard Illusion asked. Starburst glanced at him; the half-draconequus was staring at the globe with a worried frown.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Starfall answered with a question, sounding calm, despite the fact that his horn was now glowing even brighter.
“Well, water is made out of hydrogen and oxygen, so I don’t think it’s wise to mix it with fire and magic,” Illusion pointed out.
“Oh,” Starfall exclaimed, surprised. “So that’s how it works?”
Starburst frowned, alarmed. “What works?” she questioned.
Even before the she finished that sentence, Starfall clasped his forehooves, and the globe quickly got smaller, to the size of a hoof. No, it didn’t get smaller, Starburst realized as its glow magnified. He… compressed it or something!
However, before she could even begin to panic, the globe shot up high into the air, sent by Starfall’s magic. It flew up and up, higher and higher, until Starburst couldn’t see it; its light overshadowed by the lights of the stars… until it exploded.
Everypony gasped; in almost an instant, the entire sky was painted in the colors of the flames, in the colors of Starfall’s magic. It reminded Starburst of the Crystal Empire’s lights, but where those were harmonious, this was chaotic, with colors pulsing and changing randomly.
Starburst stared at the spectacle, awestruck for a few more heartbeats, until she noticed that beside her Starfall fell to the ground breathing heavily. Alarmed, she quickly touched his chest, wanting to check if he was okay.
“I’m fine,” he told her, smiling, despite still taking deep breaths. “Just overdid it a bit.”
A bit, Starburst thought, amused by the understatement. She could swear his horn was fuming, but it was hard to tell under those lights.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” she heard Annie say. Starburst looked at the unicorn, knowing that, since she could see only well enough to make out colors, this might be utterly beautiful. “Oh, you must teach me how to do that!”
“Will think about it,” Starfall replied, still lying on the ground.
“You must!” Annie insisted, then smiled deviously. “If you do, I promise to teach Starburst some things.”
Starburst frowned, confused, and she asked together with Starfall: “What things?”
“Well, for starters, how to go do-wgh,” Annie growled as the rest of what she wanted to say was stopped by Claire’s paw on her mouth.
Still, she said enough for both of them to figure out what she meant. Starburst blushed, and saw that Starfall reacted like that as well. Their eyes met, and they chuckled uncomfortably. Not wanting to grace Annie with a reply, Starburst laid on her back beside Starfall and watched the sky.
New Year’s Eve came early this year, she thought humorously, observing the spectacle. The sky shimmered, with Starfall’s lights being dimmer in places, making it possible to see the stars. Starburst turned her head, wanting to ask Starfall how long would it hold, but to her surprise she found him asleep. I guess those spells really took a lot out of him, she thought, herself feeling very tired.
Though her workout today wasn’t as exhausting as usual, her body had ached from them. Starfall had helped greatly with forgetting about her pains, but the time they spend together, while very pleasant, proved almost as strenuous.
Even as she crawled closer to Starfall, Starburst felt her eyelids grow heavier, and soon joined him in sleep.
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Yay, update on my birthday!
Double-yay, Prism and Whirlwind might get back together, yay!
Congratulations on the New Year. The camp story was scary and I think it's an Edgar Allan Poe story, but I don't remember the name. Likewise, the firework spell was awesome by mixing water and fire elements and a great job by referencing Whirlwind's pyrophobia. Anyway, thank you for another wonderful chapter.
Fall of the House of Usher
By Edgar Allan Poe
6802838 Wow, didn't think it would take so little time for somebody to guess that^^ Yep, it's Poe's, the Fall of House Usher. I have a small collection of his stories, read them in highschool. I recall reading them during a long break between two lessons of Polish Literature and thinking to myself "Why the hell can't we have such books as required reading?" Because trust me, polish required reading sucks, of the books I had to read in highschool I liked only two, and of them was russian -_-.
... I seem to get off-topic...
6802959 Yep, that's right^^
the story is the fall of the house of usher i think, by edgar allen poe
6802960 Nice chapter. Didn't recognize the story at first; haven't read Usher since high school.
...and now I count the years and feel very, very old...
Great chapter. It was great to see this update.
Simply divine! Love that scary story! It was so spooky!
6802960 Edger Allen Poe, eh? I remember reading one of his poems in high school, The Raven. But that was the only thing of Poe's we read. It was an accelerated class, I think, so we moved on quickly.
6802960
Shoot, I was in the ballpark. My first thought was "The Tell Tale Heart", but I knew that wasn't it.
cdn.meme.am/instances/57158896.jpg
.....Thank you Claire.
Edgar Allen Poe!!! My god all his stories are creepy....
House of Usher??
EDIT: Nevermind, you already answered it.
6802836
Gave him hell til he made them come back together^^
This was cute and enjoyable!
When is the next chapter?
When is the next chapter coming out. It has been several months at least.
When is the next chapter gonna be???
I think my worst fears are approaching... OFFICIAL HIATUS- no EVEN WORSE....
CANCELLED.
*crowd begins to gasp scream and panic*
Please,PLEASE UPDATE!
Quick as possible.
Please update!
this has gottta be the 8th time ive read this and its prequel.... UPDATE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS PONY!!!!!!!!!