Chapter 21: A Relaxing Night
The first sensation Flurry Heart felt when waking up the next day was a pleasant one:
A gentle tug at one of her wings.
Yawning, Flurry Heart opened her eyes slowly. Being greeted with a hazy vision at first, she began to see more clear as she proceeded to rub her eyes. Laughter from the distance entered her sleepy mind, and some words she could not understand. A short glance to the left let the still tired alicorn filly realize who she was hearing, as she found the sleeping bags of Sunny, Starry and Magnolia to be empty. A look to the right, though, revealed some unexpected company to her.
Peacefully, Magnolia was sleeping at her side, under her blanket, face mere millimeters away from her own. And she was holding her right wing, Flurry Heart could feel this clearly now.
As she wanted to lift her left hoof to remove the blanket, Flurry Heart felt the second sensation of this day, which was, unfortunately, a much less pleasant one:
Her left hoof was dangling out of the bed, but instead of hanging down onto the floor, it rested in a bowl of warm water.
Staring at the bowl, Flurry Heart's confusion quickly turned into panic. Quickly, she removed her hoof from the bowl, then sat up, ignoring the slight pain she felt as her wing got yanked out of Magnolia's hooves, and used her right hoof to touch the blanket beneath her torso for any wet stains. As she found everything dry down there, she breathed out in relief, only to groan a second later, as she realized who came up with this idea. And as to confirm her thought, another round of laughter rang in her ears.
“You think she already noticed it?” Now she could identify the voice of Starry Skies. A mischievous giggling came as response, clearly emerging from the mouth of her best friend. Flurry Heart frowned disapprovingly, but only for a moment, because as the third sensation of the new day, an awful one this time, spread inside her body, the young filly had a sudden urge to reach a certain destination.
Not paying attention to the mumbling at her side as Magnolia woke up, she leaped out of her bed and cantered out of the room, passing Starry and Sunny in the process who were giggling like mad. She turned around the corner, then zipped into the bathroom, the door getting smashed shut by her magic.
As she left the bathroom again, having relieved herself, she looked right into the faces of Starry and Sunny, who both met her glance with huge grins adorning their faces. Wearing another frown, Flurry Heart approached them.
“Good morning, princess!” Starry Skies greeted her, snickering. “Sunny and me were just thinking if we should crown you the 'Princess of Humidity', but looks like you made it on time!” She gave Flurry Heart some pats on the head.
Flurry Heart shoved the hoof of the unicorn away, still frowning, but also with a slight trace of a smile on her face now.
“Morning, Flurry Heart,” Sunny finally greeted her, too, now. “How was your sleep?”
“I slept fine,” Flurry Heart responded to her friend. “Just waking up was weird,” she added with a snark. Starry Skies snickered again.
“Why are you two awake already? How long did I sleep?” Flurry Heart then came to the next thing on her mind.
“Starry and me are awake for a while now. It's six o'clock, Flurry.”
The answer let Flurry Heart feel like somepony had just pulled away the crystal floor from underneath her. “Six o'clock?!” she bursted. “Why didn't you wake me up, Sunny?”
Now Sunny and Starry broke out into simultaneous giggling again.
“Oh, you and Magnolia were just so cuuuuuuute together!” Starry intentionally stretched the word as she answered Flurry's question, teasing her. “We just didn't want to disturb you two!” She gave Flurry a nudge and winked at her.
Getting the implication, Flurry Heart blushed a little, but did not say anything and just raised an eyebrow.
“And we figured you would be tired from the day before,” Sunny Spirit added as she had stopped giggling. “Magnolia seemed tired, too, so we just let both of you sleep.”
Now understanding, Flurry Heart nodded. Then, like on cue, Magnolia entered the corridor, yawning and rubbing over her chest sleepily. “Good mo–” She froze as she found Flurry Heart standing in front of her. “I can explain!” she shouted quickly, her face pale.
Flurry Heart took this as reason to ask another question on her mind. “Why did you sleep in my bed?”
Right as the last word had left her lips, a faint blush appeared in Magnolia's face. Her eyes looked to the side, avoiding Flurry's gaze. “I..... I-I just had a nightmare. There was this pony again and it scared me. I woke up from it and couldn't sleep alone anymore. But there was not enough room in Sunny's or Starry's sleeping bags, so I just climbed into your bed.” A few beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, which she brushed away quickly.
The last bit of Flurry Heart's confusion cleared up in her face and she gave Magnolia a smile. “That's okay, I don't mind!” she said, trying to calm the pegasus filly's apparent nervousness.
Shyly, Magnolia smiled as well, struggling with answering, but then a loud grumbling spared her from having to reply. Her eyes shifted to Flurry Heart, then Starry and Sunny looked at her, too.
Now in the center of attention, the filly rubbed her belly. “I'm hungry,” she stated the obvious. “Let's get something to eat!”
The other three fillies nodded agreeingly, then the quartet moved into the kitchen. As Flurry Heart crossed the doorstep, she paused in surprise. At the table was Sharp Pitch, sitting there and being busy with spreading butter on some loaves of bread. To his left, two mugs with cocoa stood, situated in front of one stool each.
“Sharp Pitch?” Flurry Heart asked. Eyes widely opened, she blinked.
“Good morning, princess,” he replied with a smile, turning around at her. The circles under his eyes made it look fake. “Your parents are busy talking with Sunburst and Spike, princess.”
Nodding, but with her mouth still open and her eyes staring at the guard, Flurry Heart took seat at his side, followed by Magnolia, who climbed on the stool to her left. Sunny and Starry sat down opposite of them.
Then something dawned on Flurry Heart and she turned to the guard again. “Sunburst?” she asked puzzled. “But mommy said he will be gone until Monday morning. How is he here already, Sharp Pitch?”
Sharp Pitch moved his shoulders in a slight shrug without turning at her. “I don't know. Maybe your parents called him back earlier because they need his help. I just saw him entering the castle this morning. Now eat something, princess.”
Finished with preparing breakfast for Flurry Heart and Magnolia, Sharp Pitch hovered two plates with buttered breads in front of the two hungry fillies, then rested his head on one of his hooves and yawned.
Eagerly, they began with consuming their breakfast, watched by Sunny and Starry, who were content with a glass of juice. Half of the bread gone, Flurry Heart addressed them with another question that had just popped into her mind.
“What did you and Starry do while Magnolia and I were sleeping?”
In response, they just gave her a grin, then shook their heads. “Surprise!” Sunny said. “You're going to find out later!”
Instead of getting excited, this statement got a groan out of Flurry Heart. “Another surprise? Can't you tell it now?”
“Not yet,” Sunny said, sticking out a tongue at her. “But here is something else for you, Flurry!” Without saying more, she got up and left the room, then returned with a gigantic cookie in her hooves barely a minute later. She placed it on her friend's plate.
It cast a smile on Flurry Heart's face. “A cookie?” she just said, surprised, then lifted up the treat and bit a huge chunk out of it. She chewed it thoroughly, then swallowed. “I didn't know you even brought cookies. I wish you would have told me earlier, Sunny!” She did another bite, reducing the cookie in her hooves to a mere fragment of its original size.
Sunny shook her head slowly. “It's not from me.”
“Who then?” the young alicorn asked casually, then let the last bit of the cookie disappear in her mouth.
“Starry brought it into the castle.”
At Flurry's side, Sharp Pitch raised an eyebrow and looked over to Starry Skies. He seemed fully awake suddenly.
“She brought it into the castle?” Flurry Heart asked, like she wanted to take the words out of the mouth of her guard.
Now Starry Skies explained. “I was going for a little walk while you were asleep, just around the castle. Then I met this stallion. He asked me if I come from inside the castle and when I said yes, he told me that he's a fan of you, Flurry.”
Sharp Pitch's eyes became slits.
“He said he wanted to bring you a present, but that the guards at the gate didn't let him inside. Then he gave me this cookie for you. Nice of him, wasn't it?” Starry took a sip from her juice.
“Mhm.” Flurry Heart agreed with a smile. “Maybe not everypony is hat–” Before she could finish the sentence, she felt tightly grabbed by Sharp Pitch and turned around to face him. Flurry Heart winced. “What's wrong?” she asked upset. “Why are you grabbing me like this, it hurts!”
“Princess!” he addressed her sharply, ignoring her complaint. “How do you feel?”
“I'm fine, but you–”
“Do you feel sick? Or does your stomach hurt?” he shot more questions at her, interrupting her once again. His pupils had become small and his face was strained.
“No, why would it?” Flurry Heart began to squirm around, then managed to free herself from his grasp. She breathed heavily for a few times, then shot him a glare. “What's wrong?” she asked him again, now mad at her guard.
Magnolia and Starry stared at Sharp Pitch, their mouths open. Only Sunny stayed calm, a serious expression in her eyes.
“Why are you so harsh to Flurry?” It was Magnolia who found her speech first.
For a moment, Sharp Pitch looked over the fillies, whose glances felt like needles getting stabbed into his chest. Then he composed himself, breathed in deeply, then out.
“I'm sorry,” he answered, feebly. “It is nothing.” He looked at Flurry Heart. “Just continue your breakfast, princess.”
The answer did nothing to ease the fillies after the extreme reaction and neither did it do anything to answer the questions in their mind. They looked after Sharp Pitch, quietly observing his movement, as he got up and moved to the kitchen counter, intended to make himself some coffee. As he did not address his outburst any further, the four fillies slowly returned to their routines. A few moments passed, then they found themselves chatting again, while Flurry Heart and Magnolia finished their breakfast.
About half an hour later, the four friends left the kitchen. Sharp Pitch followed them back to Flurry Heart's room, for another night of guarding them during their sleepover weekend. Sunny Spirit was the last in the row. As Flurry, Magnolia and Starry were inside the room, she stopped suddenly. “I go to the bathroom for a moment. We can play the next game I have planned once I'm back. Don't start without me, okay?” She gave Starry a knowing glance.
The unicorn filly nodded, with the others joining in. Sunny Spirit turned around, hearing the door closing behind her, then she took position in front of Sharp Pitch.
The guard looked up at her, then sighed. “Do you want to give me a pep talk for being harsh to your friend? Listen, I–”
“There was somepony.” Sunny Spirit interrupted him swiftly.
“Somepony? Who are you talking about? The stallion who gave the cookie to the princess?”
It was a good guess, but Sunny shook her head. “No. It was last night. Magnolia said she saw somepony outside the window, staring at her.”
Sharp Pitch's inner alarm began to ring again. “Did it really look up to the window?”
“Yes, Magnolia said so. It scared her a lot, she couldn't even talk for a few moments. But the pony was gone when we looked. I'm not sure if she just imagined it, but I wanted to let you know, now that this stallion tried to get in.”
Sharp Pitch nodded sternly. “Thank you for telling me. I have already decided to talk with the other guards about this stallion later.” Still noticing concern in her eyes, he put a hoof on her shoulder. “Now go inside. I promise, as long as I am here, nothing bad will happen to you fillies.”
Finally, Sunny moved. She gave Sharp Pitch a nod on her own, then went to the door of Flurry's room, opened it and slipped through.
Inside, her three friends were already waiting for her eagerly.
Flurry Heart became impatient. “Can I finally know now, Sunny?”
The mentioned filly nodded, then took seat at Flurry Heart's side. It was slowly getting dark again already, which made Flurry Heart shivering a little, unfamiliar with experiencing such a short day. Using her magic, she turned on the two lanterns, then Sunny began to explain the game for this night.
“The game we are going to play this night is called 'Blindfold Tasty'.”
Flurry Heart furrowed her brow. “'Blindfold Tasty'? That's a weird name.”
“Yeah,” Sunny nodded. “But it's a fun game, you'll see. While you and Magnolia were asleep, Starry and I prepared some food. It's all on different plates and we take turns at spinning a bottle. There will be one of us who gets blindfolded and whatever food the bottle points at when it stops must be fed to her.”
Magnolia shivered a little. “And what food is on the plates?”
Sunny smirked. “Secret! That's the thrill behind it. You don't know what you get, but you'll have to eat it. That's why me and Starry can't get blindfolded. At least, not for the first round. We already know what's on the plates.”
“And who will start then? Me or Flurry?” Magnolia asked, hesitantly.
Instead of answering, Sunny gave Flurry a wink. She looked at her friend, confused, but then she understood.
Sunny turned to Magnolia again. She smirked. “Always the pony who asks, Magnolia.”
“What?” Magnolia's face showed slight terror at the prospect and she lifted her hooves defensively. “But I..... No–” Before she could continue her sentence, Flurry Heart was holding her in a magical grip, grinning, while Sunny approached her with a cloth.
Magnolia gave Sunny a glare, then groaned loudly as the cloth got put on her eyes and tied at the back of her head. “I swear, you're going to–” She bit on her tongue before she could finish the sentence, then stayed silent.
Having finished blindfolding Magnolia, Sunny tested if she really couldn't see anything by punching into the air right in front of her face a few times. As she was convinced, she nodded at Starry. “Okay, let's get the food from the refrigerator now.”
The unicorn and crystal filly got up and left the room. A minute later, they returned, with Starry hovering six plates and an empty bottle in her magic. Sunny had one plate on her back and carried another one in her mouth.
Quickly, Flurry Heart grabbed the sleeping bags and crumpled them to the side to make room, then her two friends arranged the plates in a circle and placed the bottle in the middle of it.
Magnolia could not see anything of the preparations, but occasional sighs signaled she wasn't looking forward to the game.
Done with everything, Flurry Heart, Sunny and Starry sat down in front of the plates with the various food samples. Magnolia was still sitting on her sleeping bag to the right. Even though her eyes had a cloth over them, the bared teeth of her mouth showed how nervous she was. “Can I at least know how many plates there are?” she asked, whimpering a little.
“Eight,” Sunny replied taut. “But that's all we're going to tell you!” Then she turned to Flurry Heart. “You can spin first, Flurry.”
“Okay.” Flurry Heart smiled. At her side, Starry was grinning a lot and Sunny had a grin on her face, too. The game hadn't even started yet and it already showed that the fillies would have a lot of fun with it.
Flurry Heart reached out with her hoof and touched the bottle, then gave it a strong spin. In fast tempo, the bottle rotated, watched by the three friends who stared in excitement. Then it stopped. A collective squeal left them. The “food” the bottle was pointing at now was a drop of toothpaste.
Having heard how the bottle stopped, Magnolia asked, “What food is it? Is it at least something good?”
“Oh, did we say 'food'? Actually, it's more like all sorts of things you could put into your mouth and swallow without poisoning yourself,” Sunny teased her.
Flurry and Starry snickered.
Magnolia felt her heart slide down into her stomach. She gulped. “W-What if I just refuse to open my mouth?”
“You'd better not,” Sunny advised her. “The rules say you will have to bring a sacrifice then and we are going to decide what it is. And that might be worse than whatever you have to eat.”
Magnolia groaned again. “Fine..... Then let's get this over and done with. But make it quick.” Her shuddering returned.
Flurry Heart's face turned into one, broad grin. Carefully, she scooped up the toothpaste, then she got up and trotted on three hooves over to Magnolia.
“Now open your mouth really wide!” she commanded as she was in reach of Magnolia's face.
Hesitantly, Magnolia did as told, her face twitching slightly. As it was opened wide enough, Flurry Heart let the tip of her hoof enter her mouth and dropped the toothpaste on her tongue. Then she retreated her hoof, waiting expectantly.
Magnolia closed her mouth, then shifted her tongue around. At first it was fine, all she felt was something cold and gooey and for a moment, she hoped it would be ice cream. Then a fresh feeling spread out on her tongue and it started to feel numb.
“Bwah!” Magnolia explaimed, opening her mouth as she realized what it was. She pursed her lips like wanting to spit the toothpaste out, but Flurry Heart covered her mouth before she could open it.
“Don't. If you spit it out,” Sunny explained, “you will have to bring a sacrifice, too.”
Magnolia winced, and a muffled whimper escaped from under Flurry Heart's hooves. If she wouldn't have been blindfolded, they could see that her eyes were closed now as she struggled to swallow the piece of toothpaste. A few seconds passed, then a slight convulsion of her throat hinted that she had managed to gulp down the disgusting chunk on her tongue.
Flurry Heart removed her hoof and, before she could tell Magnolia to open her mouth so they could check if the toothpaste was really gone, Magnolia did so on own accord, sticking out her tongue and moaning in disgust. “That was terrible!” she complained.
“Rules are rules!” Sunny teased her again, causing Magnolia to stiffle a curse.
More snickering followed, then Flurry Heart returned to her seat. Now it was Sunny who grabbed the bottle and spun it.Three or four turns later, it came to a halt.
“Lucky you,” Sunny said, addressing Magnolia. “For now,” she added, after scooping up a small cookie from the plate. She approached Magnolia and held the cookie in front of her mouth. “Now open up, it's better this time!”
Hesitantly, but a little faster than before, Magnolia opened her mouth. A yelp escaped her as the cookie fell on her tongue, but turned into relieved sighing soon, as her tongue identified the taste. Her spirits lifted, she began to chew the cookie, then swallowed it down, all without objection.
It was Starry's turn next. As soon as Sunny had returned to her place between her and Flurry Heart, Starry Skies eagerly reached for the bottle and spun it wildly. The spin was stronger than at Flurry's or Sunny's turn, but after ten rotations, the bottle finally stopped. In the middle of the plate it pointed at, was a tiny pile of green pepper. It looked like it was barely enough to fill the small spoon that was on the plate as well.
As Starry saw the result, she held a hoof to her mouth and giggled. Activating her magic, she lifted the spoon, dunked it into the pepper, leaving only a few grains on the plate, and hovered the spoon towards Magnolia. On Flurry Heart's face was a sceptical expression, but, before she could say anything, Magnolia had opened her mouth at Starry's command and the spoon had entered it. Starry dropped the hot, green, powder-like substance on Magnolia's tongue.
It just caused a slight briskness on the sensible taste organ, right after touching it, and Magnolia's first guess was soda powder. Just one second later, though, the pegasus filly had to correct herself, as the green pepper began to unfold all of its spicy potential. Under her blindfold, her eyes shot open widely and tears entered them almost immediately. She held her hooves to her mouth, face painfully distorted, and coughed. A small amount of the pepper got blown out of her mouth and landed on her white coat. Then everything happened fast.
Magnolia opened her mouth and inhaled deeply, then, with a frantic movement, she ripped the blindfold of her head. In a panic-fueled gallop, she rushed over the plates; not caring about food getting smeared on her hooves or the laughter behind her, and out of the room. Sharp Pitch startled as the door of Flurry Heart's room got thrown open with a loud bang and Magnolia rushed past him, like a white flash, heading directly for the kitchen. As she pulled open the door of the refrigerator, the cold air from the ice block inside easing her hot mouth a little as it wafted into her face, her wings were buzzing like those of a hummingbird. Hastily, she grabbed one of the milk bottles, removed the cap and began to drink in greedy gulps. The cold, refreshing liquid extinguished the fire in her mouth and as Magnolia had emptied the bottle, she sat down on the floor, gasping for air. The spicy taste in her mouth reduced to a light sting now, Magnolia slowly calmed down from the shock.
Behind her, Flurry, Sunny and Starry entered the kitchen. Cocky, Starry gave her a strong pat on the back. “You are disqualified!” she shouted.
Magnolia huffed. “I don't care. I'm just glad that I got this taste out of my mouth, who even had this idea?!” She turned, her glare skipping around between Starry and Sunny.
“Don't look at me,” Sunny defended herself, although, she still had to stiffle a giggle.
A playfully guilty expression on her face, Starry stuck out her tongue at Magnolia, then she grinned broadly. Magnolia's glare deepened, but Starry's grin did not falter. “No risk, no fun!” she said, then she turned around and bolted back into Flurry Heart's room, half-expecting that Magnolia would come after her.
But the filly that had just become victim of her idea did nothing of that sort. Instead, she trotted slowly out of the kitchen, shaking her head. “I'm not playing this game anymore.”
Flurry and Sunny looked into each other's eyes for a moment and shrugged. But naughty expressions returned to their faces soon and they giggled again, then followed their friend.
While Magnolia was in the bathroom cleaning her hooves, the other three fillies cleaned up the small mess in Flurry Heart's bedroom. It was by a miracle that none of the plates got shattered as Magnolia ran over them, something Flurry Heart would have hated to explain to her parents. They brought them into the kitchen and put them into the sink, where they freed them from the remaints of the food, then put them on the table to prepare them once again. Even though Magnolia had so unexpectedly skipped out of the game, neither of them wanted to stop playing just now. And so, it happened once again that Sunny and Starry prepped the plates with both tasty and disgusting things, while it was this time Flurry Heart who waited in her room, blindfolded.
The young alicorn princess lasted longer than her pegasus friend. She grimaced at the taste of old butter and other, less than tasty things, and a piece of a moldy tomato Sunny had found at the back of the refrigerator let her almost puke. But it was only a jalapeño pepper, as almost all of the eight plates had been emptied, that made her give up, with a similar reaction as Magnolia had shown before her.
The group of friends continued with two more rounds, giving both Sunny and Starry opportunity to get fed with whatever things the other three fillies decided on from the vast offers of the royal kitchen.
As Sunny had just swallowed the piece of food from the last plate, a spoonful of baking powder, the four friends received a reminder for how late it was already. Sunny put down her blindfold and grinned triumphantly, with Flurry Heart clapping for her friend, as suddenly, the bell strokes of the nearby clock tower sounded into their ears.
Reverently, the fillies sat still and listened to the strokes. “Two, three, four,” they started counting them. As they had reached the number twelve, followed by complete silence, that now felt eerie to them, they gasped in unison. It was midnight! How long did they play? None of them had even noticed how fast the time had gone by during their game, so much fun did they have with it. They were now awake as long as last night, yet, this time, none of them felt tired. Especially Magnolia and Flurry Heart were widely awake, after their long sleep today.
Having sat on her flank so far, Starry Skies now brought herself into a more comfortable position again, the same one as last night. “Witching Hour,” she whispered, head propped on her forehooves, a tone in her voice that could only be described as “mystical”. Or, at least she tried to make her voice sound like this. Nonetheless, the other foals in the room shuddered over her voice, with Magnolia shuddering the most of all of them. She could already guess what Starry was going for and her mind disagreed with it.
“Now it's time for ghost stories,” Starry said, still in the same tone.
Despite Magnolia's reaction, everypony except her agreed. There was no creepy pony frightening Magnolia this night, so none of her friends had a problem with doing what they couldn't do last night.
Inspired by Starry's little show and in the same mood now, Flurry Heart used her magic and dimmed the two lanterns in the room, until it was almost completely dark. Only a faint glow came from the lanterns anymore, by far not enough to lit up the whole room, and Flurry Heart and her friends could only see their silhouettes now. Reflexively, Magnolia rose from her position and trotted at Flurry Heart's side with fast steps, where she let herself slump down again. Her teeth started to clatter.
“So, who is telling the first story?” Flurry Heart asked everypony around. Expectantly, she rested her eyes on Starry Skies. “Starry?”
Surprised, the unicorn looked up. “Me?”
“Mhm,” Flurry Heart nodded. “You know some, right?”
Now Sunny and Magnolia looked at Starry too, although the latter did so very hesitantly.
Starry laid back her ears a little. “No..... I'm sorry, I don't know any ghost stories.” Wonder appeared in the faces of her friends. “You know I wasn't at any sleepovers before. That's why I was so disappointed last night, I really wanted to hear some.....”
Flurry Heart nodded. “Ok.” She turned to her left and faced Magnolia. “And I guess you don't know any either, or do you, Magnolia?”
“N-No!” Magnolia shot back an answer. “I-I don't know any g-ghost stories!” Her teeth began to clatter louder.
Flurry Heart was not sure if this was the truth, but didn't ask further. With only two of them left who could provide ghost stories, though, she became slightly worried if their plan would work out. But, before she could ask her best friend, Sunny spoke up, saving the situation.
“I know one,” she said quietly. “It's the only one I know, but it's a really scary one!”
“That's perfect!” Starry Skies burst out, snickering in excitement.
Flurry Heart's face showed satisfaction as well. She gave a nod to her best friend, who nodded in return. Using her magic a second time, Flurry Heart reached into Sunny's bag and lifted out several chocolate bars, that she spread between her friends. As all of them were equipped with a few, Sunny got ready to start. She looked over the excited faces of her friends, then she began to tell her tale.
“What I am going to tell you this night,” she gave her voice an ominous tone, “is the story of..... 'The Crimson Crystal'!” She paused for effect, looking at all of her friends again.
“Everything began on a quiet, peaceful Saturday, just like today. A stallion was in his bedroom, having just searched for something in his drawer. He was clumsy this day and something fell behind it. So he got down and moved the drawer away from the wall. As he looked behind, he found more than what he searched for.....” Making another pause, Sunny waited before she continued.
“There, right on the wall, a crystal with a pointy tip stuck out. It didn't belong to the wall, that's something the stallion could tell immediately. It had a different color than the crystal his house had been carved out of many years ago. And what freaked him out, was, that the crystal was of a crimson color. He couldn't make heads nor tails of it, but eventually, he shrugged it off. He took the item that fell behind the drawer, moved the drawer back at the wall and continued with his day. Soon, he had forgotten about the weird crystal.”
The faces of Sunny's friends were all adorned by smiles now, eager to know how the story continued, except for Magnolia, who seemingly became smaller at her spot.
“And then? What happened?” Starry asked, completely captured already.
“Nothing,” Sunny answered bluntly, causing a disappointed frown to appear on her friend's face. “A lot of time passed. Days, weeks, even months went by and the stallion did not think about the crystal anymore. He had completely forgotten it. Until one day, he trotted past his drawer again and noticed how it had been shifted from the wall. He gave it a closer look and moved it to the side to check the wall. It made him remembering the strange, crimson crystal again. Except, when seeing it this time, it was much bigger than he remembered. It had grown in the last months, so much, that it had pushed his drawer away from the wall. It was a mystery for him, but he wanted to solve it.”
Stopping again, Sunny snatched up a chocolate bar in front of her hooves, unwrapped it and began to eat it slowly, creating more suspense. She continued only as she was finished.
“He called an expert in crystallography to his house and showed him the crystal, explaining everything. But the expert was at a loss. He had never seen such a crystal before and all he could do was giving him the advice to cut it off to prevent it from growing further. Which the stallion did. He took his saw and removed the crystal, then threw it outside. Everything went back to normal after that. Until.....”
Now Magnolia gulped, the suspense slowly getting too much for her. Absentmindedly, she inched closer to Flurry Heart, not noticing what she did in all her fear. Flurry Heart did notice, though. She unfolded her left wing and put it over Magnolia's back, giving her a smile. “It's just a story,” she said in a calming tone. Magnolia nodded, yet the frightened expression remained. She twitched a little as Sunny picked up again.
“Until one day, he was just sitting at the desk in his study, a very loud bang just behind his back let him twitch. He turned around and saw that the cabinet that stood at the wall behind him had been fallen over. His study was small, so it was missing him by only a few inches. But what scared him the most..... was that, on the wall where the cabinet stood, another crimson crystal was sticking out. It was massive this time and had a broad oval shape. Shaking his head and sighing, the stallion got up and removed the cabinet from the floor, wondering why the crimson crystal was back in another room of his house now. He suspected that something was wrong with his house crystal, so he called the expert again on the same day, letting him check every wall in every room. But there was nothing. The blue crystal his house was built out off was in perfect condition and once more, the expert left without being able to offer an explanation. It was already late when he left, so the stallion decided to go to bed and to cut off the new crystal on the next day. But, when he woke up the next morning..... the crimson crystals were everywhere in his bedroom!”
Sunny gestured around the room with her hooves, giving Magnolia an unpleasant feeling, yet exciting the rest of the foals.
“And then?” Flurry Heart and Starry asked at the same time. The story was getting more scary and they shivered now, their hearts beating faster and a feeling of cold fear spreading in their chests. But unlike Magnolia, the two of them smiled wildly, enjoying the feeling.
Sunny continued. “The crimson crystals were above his drawer, behind his bed, even on the ceiling! And the floor was littered with them as well. But worst of all..... A few of the crystals had grown over the door of his bedroom, making it impossible for him to leave. No matter how much he pulled at the door, he could not get out. Desperated, he cantered to the window. It was too high to jump down from there, so he waved and shouted, calling the ponies that passed by for help. But nopony reacted. It was like none of them could even hear him. In his panic, he rushed back to the door and tried to remove the crimson crystals by force, but it was to no avail. He tried it for the whole day, but all he got from it were bloody hooves. At the evening, he gave up and went back to bed, exhausted. Tiny fragments of the crimson crystals covered his wounds, but he was too tired and he had nothing to patch them up with anyway. And so, he fell asleep.....”
Sunny stopped again and set her eyes on Magnolia, for maximum effect. “And do you know what happened next?”
“N-No and I don't want to know!” She inched even closer to Flurry Heart, leaving no space between them anymore.”
But Sunny grinned devilishly. “A few days later, his landlord came to the house. The stallion hadn't been seen for days by any of his neighbors, so they called the landlord and told him about it. He opened the door and entered the house, then went through every room. All the interior was still there, yet the stallion was nowhere to be found, and the landlord suspected the worst already. As he reached the door of the stallion's bedroom, the last room he didn't check yet, he groaned. As he had opened it and his eyes fell on the bed, he shook his head. Everything in the room looked normal, but on the bed, there was a crystal sculpture of a pony, one made of crimson-red crystals that looked just like the stallion that lived there. The landlord huffed and said 'Very funny, mister'. He trotted to the bed and gave the sculpture a closer look. Its details astounded him, he had never seen such a detailed sculpture of a pony before. It almost looked alive and for a moment, he even thought the eyes of it were moving. But then he shrugged, put the sculpture on his back and turned to leave the house. Repeatedly, he shook his head in disbelief on the way out. 'No money to pay the last rent, but enough to make a sculpture to mock me.' he said. It seemed like a clear case to him, but, what he didn't know, was.....”
Sunny's voice indicated that she was approaching a shocking reveal in her story and even though all of them, including Magnolia, could already guess what it was, all of them were on the edge of their proverbial seats now. They gulped, their eyes big.
“What he didn't know was.....” Sunny said again. “That the stallion hadn't left. And he was also not dead. No, he was in the house all the time and right now, clasped tightly between his hooves. Like in the room earlier, the eyes of the stallion darted around, panic in them. Finally, his landlord threw him on the dump. The stallion stayed there and screamed and screamed, yet, nopony could hear him under the thick layer of crystal that covered his body. The landlord never saw the sculpture again, nor did he care about it, but eventually, a pony found the sculpture with the stallion inside and took it home with it. They say the sculpture still exists, though, nopony keeps it for long. Because.....”
She stopped and looked over her friends for a last time before lowering her eyes and her voice and finishing the story with one last sentence.
“Because a strange, rotten smell always present around the sculpture that nopony could explain made them sell it again quickly.”
Sunny leaned back and let the words linger in the air. It took a few moments until the realization hit them, then Flurry and Starry gasped and their mouths remained open. Magnolia, now completely spooked, wrapped her hooves around Flurry Heart and began to shiver uncontrollably.
“A-And that's really true?” Flurry Heart asked her friend.
“That's what ponies say. I only heard it myself, but, if I were you, I would look out for it.” She rested her eyes on Magnolia. “Your parents have many sculptures in their house, right? Maybe you should better check if one of those smells weird.....”
Panicking now, Magnolia yelped and buried her head even more into Flurry's coat. It became wet as a few tears left her eyes.
“Just stop with the story now, Sunny. I think Magnolia had enough.” Gently, she put a hoof on Magnolia's shoulder. Then she ignited her horn and made the lanterns brighter again.
Sunny was still wearing a smirk, but nodded. “Okay then. It's the only scary story I know, anyway.”
Starry Skies was less content. Already the expression in her face showed that she wanted to hear more. She addressed Flurry. “And what about you? I'm sure you know more stories, am I right?” An almost insane grin was on her face.
Flurry Heart nodded. “I do. A few even.” Then her lips formed a smug smile. “And I know something even better..... I could show you a real scary place, not just tell a story.”
Although it seemed impossible for Starry to be more on fire than she already was, this was exactly what happened now. Her eyes glowing, she stormed at Flurry Heart. “Show me!” she said, her voice demanding and eager.
But Flurry Heart shook her head. “No.” In front of her, Starry's face fell apart in disappointment. “I would really like to. But as I said, Magnolia had enough, and if we go down there now, she will freak out completely.” Her face frowned a little. “And it wouldn't be a very relaxing sleepover anymore then, especially not after what happened last night.....”
This sentence stroke a chord in Sunny Spirit. “I agree with Flurry Heart, she's right. The last three school days were hard enough. We should have fun this weekend, nothing else.”
This worked. Although still looking disappointed, Starry Skies gave up. “Okay,” she said with a sigh, hanging her head a little.
“Maybe we can go there tomorrow night, Starry,” Flurry tried to cheer her up.
Starry looked at her. “Do you promise we will?”
“I'm not sure,” the young princess answered. “It depends if Magnolia has calmed down by then. But I promise we try, Starry.”
It was not a completely satisfying answer for Starry Skies, but she ceased to argue and left it at a nod.
“So, what are we going to do now?” she asked then, having returned to her preferred, comfortable position.
“I don't know,” Flurry Heart replied. She looked down at Magnolia. It felt weird to her, apparently, they were going to end the second night of their sleepover weekend just like the first one, with Magnolia being terrified. She sighed a little, but then vocalized her thoughts.
“I guess there isn't much Magnolia would be up for today anymore, I think it's best we're going to sleep now.”
And indeed, Magnolia was still shivering, even whimpered quietly. None of them felt really tired yet, though all of them had to agree on Flurry Heart's reasoning, seeing how scared Magnolia was now. Silently they agreed. They made their way to the bathroom, were they brushed their teeth together, then they returned to Flurry Heart's room.
While Sunny brought her sleeping bag back to its position and smoothed it, Magnolia climbed straight into Flurry Heart's bed, still shivering strongly, slipped under the blanket and pulled it up real close to her chin. “I'm not sleeping alone tonight,” she said firm, her heart beating fast.
Flurry Heart smiled understandingly. “It's okay, I still don't mind.”
Sunny raised an eyebrow when she heard how casually her friend expressed to be okay with sharing her bed with the former bully, but didn't say anything.
As all of the fillies were at their chosen sleeping places, Flurry Heart used her magic on the lanterns again, but didn't turn them off completely this time. A slight glimmer of light remained in the room, making it possible to identify the silhouettes of the furniture and their lying bodies. They wished each other a good night, yet, found themselves awake for quite a while, a time they used to chat about various things on their minds.
Slowly, though, one filly after another slipped into sleep, until only Flurry Heart was awake anymore. For a few minutes, her thoughts circled about the events of the last two days and how relaxing they had been on her mind. Despite how terrible this week was for her, she now felt a new confidence. Whatever it was that her parents, Spike and Sunburst were planning for Monday, it would work, and her life would finally return to normal, she was sure about this now.
It was a thought that eased her further and, fully convinced that the horror would be over soon, she closed her eyes and nestled into her pillow, as much as this was possible with the pegasus at her side clinging to her. Only a few minutes later, the sleep had taken her away as well and slow, calm breaths were leaving her mouth.....
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I hope that cookie earlier was just a cookie and not containing some slow acting potion whose effect will cause nothing but trouble.
I'm excited for what happens next.
8044409 Made with poison joke?
I thought I'd hate Magnolia at first, but she's my second favorite character now after Flurry Heart herself.
Can't wait for the next chapter.