Spiritus ex Machina

by wonderkid125

Chapter 20: Where Spirits Dwell

Suddenly, Twilight snapped back to reality as her senses came back to her all at once. She opened her eyes, only to clench them shut again due to the brightness of her surroundings. Judging from the sensory information she could gather, she was lying down on her side. Oddly enough, she could feel grass beneath her.

“Urgh…” Twilight groaned softly while slowly making her way to her feet and adjusting her eyes to the light. Just as she tried finding out where she was, she heard a childish giggle coming from behind her.

As she spun around in surprise, she was greeted with the sight of a family of four strolling by casually. There were colorful tents in the background. The sweet smell of cotton candy filled the air, along with calliope music softly playing somewhere nearby.

Twilight was still stunned by her sudden change in surroundings, but she gradually calmed down as she took in the sights around her. “I… must have passed out again. I guess that means this is Fun Land?” She muttered curiously while briefly admiring the sun shining down on her.

The world felt oddly distant like she was having an incredibly vivid dream. Still, it was a welcome change from the claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere of the underground resort. It was so warm and nice here, but she still felt a little uneasy.

“If I’m here… and if these really are visions, then that means one or more of the ghosts want me to see something. The question is… what?” Twilight looked around and tried to find anything of note. It seemed to be just a normal day at the park, or at least what one would expect to be a normal day at the park. There were ponies of all sizes, colors, and races going to and fro with bright smiley expressions. It was easy to see why Berry’s family was so successful.

While she was walking around the various tents and attractions of the park, Twilight paused suddenly as she heard a familiar giggle. As she turned and scanned through the crowd, she saw something that made a cold chill pass over her.

There was a small filly standing in front of a cotton candy stand. She had snow white fur and golden blonde hair. Her flanks were barren of a cutie mark, but she didn’t look any gloomier for it. Twilight had seen this filly before, in far less bright and colorful surroundings. This was the filly that she had chased into the basement during her dream.

“It’s you…” Twilight said in an amazed tone while stepping closer to the filly. She made it half way to the stand before remembering that she was practically a ghost in this world. Besides, even if the filly could hear her, she probably wouldn’t be able to answer any questions. This was presumably a vision of the past after all.

Off to the side, another familiar looking pony caught her attention. Twilight looked over and saw Cotton and Candy Swirl in the distance, seemingly having a discussion with a pair of royal guards. The purple mare briefly glanced back to the white filly. The young girl happily scampered back over to what Twilight presumed to be her parents with her pink cloud of sugar in hoof. Deciding to leave the filly, for the time being, Twilight started making her way toward the ponies talking in the distance.

Despite the royal guard present in the park, everyone else seemed to be having the best time of their life. Only a couple of ponies even took notice of the two stoic white stallions clad in armor, pausing to look at them with unsure expressions before carrying on. Candy Swirl and his son, however, seemed to be much more troubled, and Twilight had a vague idea why.

“I’m terribly sorry that we can’t be of more help, sir.” Candy Swirl stated with a regretful frown. Twilight shrugged as she apparently got into earshot toward the end of the conversation.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Swirl… We will contact you if we have any further questions or find anything of note.” The older looking out of the two guards explained in the resigned tone of voice common among the royal guard. Twilight was impressed to see that not much had changed about the princess’s protectors throughout the years. She wondered where the alicorn found so many white stallions that fit the requirements to become a guard.

As the two guards walked away, the purple stallion and his son were left to their thoughts, however troubling they might have been. Finally, after a while of sitting in silence, Cotton Swirl sighed and shook his head.

“I can’t believe this… how could two kids just up and vanish like that? And from right under our noses too…” Cotton Swirl fretted with a troubled expression. He hung his head low, seemingly deep in thought as he tried to piece together a possible explanation.

“Don’t worry, my boy… I’m sure that they will be found safe.” Candy Swirl assured, though his attempt at sounding chipper and confident was hindered by his own feelings of doubt and unease.

Cotton sighed and paused for a moment before looking to his father again. “We’ve already searched the fairgrounds at least twice over. They aren’t anywhere in the park anymore.” He stated while glancing around at the crowds of happy ponies. He seemed to be slightly ashamed as he watched them spending time with their friends and family, completely unaware of the tragedies that had already taken place at the park.

Twilight stood beside the two stallions, passively observing them as they were completely unaware of her presence. “They must be talking about those missing children. Hey… did he say two kids?” She muttered with a confused expression. She could have sworn that the newspaper she read mentioned three children going missing from the park.

“What about that old maintenance shed over by the property line? Did they search in there?” Candy Swirl asked curiously.

“I took the guards there myself when we searched the grounds. I thought they might have been hiding in there somehow. Nothing was in there but some old mascot suits… Besides, the only way inside is a locked door.” Cotton Swirl explained.

“Thank the princess they weren’t. That old building looks like it’s ready to collapse any minute.” The purple stallion shrugged uneasily. “Hey… aren’t there some of your old projects still in there?” He asked curiously while turning to the younger pony.

Cotton looked away pensively. “Just one… That old mechanical puppet I was making out of one of those yellow suits we used to have. I left it in there… it’s way too dangerous to mess with anyway. I made the parts compress so you could take the suit pieces apart for easier storage, but now the springs I used are so worn they are liable to break. I don’t want anyone getting their hoof or something caught inside if they mistook it for a mascot suit.” He replied.

“Hmm… it’s probably for the best then.” Candy Swirl nodded. He remained silent for a moment before adopting a somber expression. “Listen, I don’t want you going in there anymore either. I need to get in touch with some people to tear the shed down anyway, it’s just too dangerous. The door is locked you said?” He asked, to which the white pony nodded. “Good… just leave the keys in my office. As for the missing children, we just need to trust that the royal guard will find them.” He said while putting a foreleg around the younger stallion. With that, the pair started walking away.

Before the two ponies walked out of earshot, Twilight heard Cotton Swirl speak up. “Hey… you don’t think these kids went missing like those others, do you?” He asked hesitantly, to which the older stallion looked at him with a troubled expression in response.

“What… you mean those kidnappings?” The purple stallion looked away for a moment before shaking his head and shuddering. “Nonsense… Don’t even say such a thing. That animal was in Canterlot when they found his hideout. The royal guard is probably hot on his hooves as we speak. I certainly hope they make him pay for what he did to those poor children.”

Twilight watched the pair walk away until they disappeared into the crowd of ponies. Although their conversation was intriguing, and a little bit somber, the unicorn wasn’t sure about what information she could glean from it. Turning around and walking back through the park, she thought about everything she had heard and how it fit together with what she already knew.

“Hmm… maybe those kidnapped children are our ghosts. But why are there so many ghosts if only three children went missing at the park?” Twilight muttered pensively while looking down.

“Goldy…? Goldy, where are you?!”

A distressed mare called out from up ahead, drawing Twilight’s attention away. She looked forward and noticed a pair of ponies amongst the crowds with alarmed expressions on their faces.

“Huh…?” Twilight watched the pair as they darted their heads around frantically. They seemed to be looking for someone.

“Glistening Gold, where did you go?! Get back here right this instant!” The mare called out again desperately.

All at once it dawned on Twilight. Her eyes widened and a gasp escaped her mouth. She recognized the couple. They were the same ponies she had seen the white filly with blonde hair running up to before. “Oh no, the third kidnapping… That little girl was the third child… this must be the day she was taken!” Twilight exclaimed in shock. It hadn’t occurred to her why the white filly was a ghost in the first place. The answer was obvious now of course. The filly was among the children that went missing at Fun Land, and her kidnapping was happening right now.

Twilight darted her head around and scanned the area for the young filly. There were no signs of her, and nobody stood out of the crowd by doing anything suspicious. If the unicorn was going to find the person responsible, she had to move fast.

Running to the left, the purple mare raced toward the area of the park that held the large Ferris wheel. She pushed through the crowd, which was quite easy considering she passed through every pony like they weren’t even there. All the while she frantically looked for any signs of the white filly or the person that was responsible.

No matter where she searched, Twilight couldn’t find hide nor hair of the missing filly. All of the ponies around her were blending into a mess of colors. Despite the fact that this was a dream of sorts, she was starting to get exhausted mentally and physically.

“*Pant*… *Pant*…” Twilight struggled to move as fast as she could. The park was so large, and there were so many places to check, but she couldn’t be everywhere at once. At this rate, she was going to miss the kidnapper entirely.

Just as she was giving up all hope, a spot of yellow and white caught her eye. Looking past the crowd ahead of her, the unicorn widened her eyes as she finally saw the young girl. The filly was following a pony in a mascot suit toward one of the many colorful tents. The suit was that of Freddy the bear, though this one was colored differently. This suit was yellow, and the top hat upon its head was purple instead of black.

“Wait!” Twilight called out, despite the fact that nobody could hear her. She raced forward and ran straight for the pair, hoping to catch them before they reached the tent.

The filly still had her cotton candy from earlier clutched in her hoof. She seemed hesitant to follow the mascot into the tent. “I don’t know about this, Freddy… I don’t think my mommy wants me to wander this far away from her.” Twilight heard the filly speaking somehow, despite the distance between her and the tent. It was like the girl was speaking directly in her head.

The purple mare hurried her pace as she watched the filly pausing at the edge of the tent while the mascot went inside. Even if this was the past, she thought that maybe if she caught up to them that she could somehow save the filly. Her emotions outweighed her sense of logic. She had to reach them in time.

“Get in here you little brat!” A muffled voice rang out in her head, much like the filly’s voice did before. Just before Twilight reached the tent, she saw a mascot paw reach out from inside and grab the filly by the leg, yanking her inside.

“AH!” The filly yelped in terror as she was pulled into the tent. A moment later, her screams were cut short.

“No, wait! Don’t hurt her!” Twilight pleaded while rushing up to the tent. She briefly looked down to the cotton candy splattered on the ground outside before rushing in through the same flap the filly had been pulled in through.

Suddenly and very abruptly, the loud noises of the crowds outside ceased. The music that was playing and the sounds of the rides and attractions stopped as well, leaving the world in silence. As Twilight stepped into the tent, she paused in stunned surprise as she realized that it was nearly pitch black.

Twilight looked around with a confused expression. As she looked behind her and pushed aside the tent flap with her foreleg, her jaw hung open in shock from what she found. “Wh… what the…?”

It was night out; not only that, but the park outside was also completely empty. The full moon shone down onto nothing but grass, and the wind blowing through the area ruffled the many tents anchored to the ground.

…Help me…

A shrill and timid voice echoed through the tent. Twilight jumped in fright and spun around. As she lit up her horn and darted her head around in a panic, she realized that the tent was empty. The filly and the suited pony were nowhere to be found. However, there was a different mascot suit slumped up against a box at the back of the tent.

“H-hello…? Little girl?” Twilight tried to keep her voice from trembling, but she couldn’t. Up until now, her visions had simply been events from the past replaying before her eyes, but what was happening now seemed more sinister.

Taking a few cautious steps into the tent, she kept her head on a swivel. Every creak of the tent poles shifting in the wind set her even further on edge. Despite how vulnerable she felt, she kept moving forward, getting closer and closer to the mascot suit.

The suit was a bonnie suit that was limply settled on the floor. Its head was facing her, and its empty eye sockets indicated that nobody was inside. It looked vastly different from the friendly animatronic she had met when she first arrived at the resort, being more purple than blue, and being quadrupedal instead of bipedal.

…Stop! It hurts…!

The voice echoed again. Twilight recognized the voice to be the white filly, but she was nowhere to be seen. The distress in her voice was easy to hear, even through the eerie distortion it held.

Suddenly, Twilight heard a noise coming from the bonnie suit. It sounded like a hushed, raspy groaning. The sound was chillingly familiar to her somehow. She had heard it before, but she couldn’t remember where.

“Glistening Gold? T-that’s your name… right? What are you trying to show me?” Twilight spoke up nervously while looking around her. Even if she couldn’t see anything around her, she was confident that the ghostly filly could hear her somehow.

“I just want to go home…” The filly’s voice whispered from directly in front of the unicorn. It sounded real as if she was actually there.

Twilight snapped her head to look down where the voice had come from. Her gaze only met the mask of the purple rabbit on the ground. As the disturbing groaning noise returned, Twilight noticed a pair of silver dots glowing at the back of the suit’s empty eyes.

Flashes of memories came flooding back to her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She remembered now where she had heard the noises before. She had heard them coming from inside of Freddy the bear in her dream, which was also the last place she had seen glowing dots like that.

A sudden image literally flashed before her eyes, along with a deafening screech. The image was of the white filly, standing in the same tent she was currently in along with the pony in the Freddy suit. The sound and the image only lasted an instant, but they were enough to make the unicorn’s heart skip a beat.

Twilight started breathing heavily as a wave of panic overtook her. She stared down at the bonnie suit as more images flashed in front of her. She saw still images of the suited pony getting closer to the filly and lifting its hefty paws up toward her neck. The noise from the bonnie suit grew louder in between each image.

“N-no…” Twilight whimpered, frozen in place from fear.

The images returned, progressing more and more towards the sinister conclusion the unicorn already knew was coming. The pony in the mascot suit wrapped its paws around the filly’s neck, squeezing her tightly. In the background, Twilight could see a purple shape coming into view. The same bonnie suit that was lying in front of her was there in the tent before.

“No… no!” Twilight clenched her eyes shut as the images kept going. A blood-curdling shriek rang out in her head, followed by a sickening crack. She knew what happened now, and she didn’t want to see it. As silence engulfed her mind again, she could hear her own shaky breathing and her beating heart.

It’s… it’s over… She thought to herself. The ghosts had shown her everything she needed to know. Nothing was keeping her here anymore. Once she opened her eyes, her vision would start to fade and she would wake up with her friends again. She didn’t need to see anything more.

As she slowly peeked open her eyes, she expected to be greeted by the empty tent again. However, something else greeted her instead.

“…!” Twilight jerked her head back and opened her mouth in a silent scream. Her voice caught in her lungs, and a jolt of fear ran through her.

The bonnie suit was standing in front of her now. Its jaw was opened wide, and the darkness of the hollow suit inside was clearly visible. But something was inside of the suit, or rather, someone was inside of the suit.

The white filly was lying motionless in the chest cavity of the suit. Her neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, her pale face was facing toward Twilight, and her eyes were open. The once colorful yellow orbs were now milky and lifeless. An expression of terror was frozen on her face.

Twilight recoiled from the sight before her, horrified but unable to look away. “GAH!” She yelped incoherently. Her legs were trembling so much that she thought she might fall.

The same silver dots slowly lit up in the filly’s lifeless eyes. Along with this, the glowing dots in the mascot suit’s eyes returned brighter than ever. The bonnie suit stepped forward, closing its mouth and reaching for the fleeing unicorn. Twilight tripped over herself and fell to the hard ground below. She stared up at the possessed suit helplessly as it drew closer to her. Trying to get back up yielded no results as a violent wave of numbness overtook her body.

Suddenly, bonnie lunged at the purple mare. The suit opened its mouth again as a terrible roar filled her ears. The all-encompassing blackness of the suit’s hollow insides rapidly filled her vision as the beast pounced on her.

“AHHHHH!!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as she shot up from the floor. The roar of the mascot suit was gone, and apparently so was the mascot suit itself. The world around her was no longer filled with darkness. In fact, it seemed incredibly familiar to her.

“Twilight, are you ok?!” A familiar voice rang out from nearby. Twilight looked around and noticed that she was sitting on the floor in the middle of an enclosed hallway. The dull and faded wallpaper, the worn carpets, and the cold chill prevalent in the air were all dead giveaways. She was back in the underground resort.

Taking a look around, the purple mare discovered many of her friends huddled around her with concerned expressions on their faces. Everyone except for Tom and Glimmer Shine seemed to be present, along with all of the other people that were already missing.

“Oh my… you look pale.” Fluttershy fretted softly from beside the unicorn. Apparently, she was the voice that spoke before.

Twilight took a moment to calm her racing heart and frantic breathing. She put a hoof up to her face and groaned with relief. She was awake again, and she was very glad for it. If all of her visions were going to be like that, then she wasn’t sure if she wanted to have any more. “I’m ok… I’m ok…” Twilight parroted, partially to assure the others that she was alright, and partially to remind herself.

Rainbow Dash looked at the jilted unicorn with a doubtful expression. “You were screaming bloody murder for a minute there, Twi… are you sure you’re alright?” She asked while frowning with concern.

“Yeah… I’m good.” Twilight took in a few more deep breaths, resetting her breathing pattern back to a more stable level. As she looked around her surroundings, she realized that she didn’t recognize the area. “Hey… where are we?” She asked curiously.

“We’re down on the second floor, by the staircase.” Sunspot explained while motioning toward the side.

Twilight looked over and noticed the stairs embedded into the wall around a corner. The group was sitting on the edge of a sort of entryway for the second floor. “Wow… I must have been out for a while if you managed to carry me down here.” She raised her eyebrows with surprise. The vision she had seemed rather short in retrospect, but apparently the time she spent in her dreams was unrelated to how long she was unconscious.

Pinkie Pie shifted her expression to a more intrigued one as a thought occurred to her. “Hey, did you have another vision?” She asked curiously. Everyone else perked up eagerly as they turned to the purple mare for more information on her sudden collapse.

Twilight briefly thought back to her experience. Although she remembered the entire dream vividly, the end of it is what was forefront in her mind. A cold shudder went through her as she pictured the dead filly sitting inside of the bonnie suit. “Y-yeah… I did. I… don’t want to talk about it right now though.” She explained hesitantly. The others looked at each other with concerned expressions of sympathy for the unicorn. Despite how curious they were, they took the hint and didn’t bother the troubled mare any more about what she saw.

After taking a moment to get her bearings, Twilight got up from the floor and walked around. “Where did Tom and Glimmer Shine go?” She asked curiously, bringing up the absence of the pair she noticed earlier.

“They went to go search around this floor a little bit… although they will be back soon since they don’t really need to search.” Glitterball explained.

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight shrugged, feeling like she missed out on so much by falling unconscious.

Seeing the confusion on the purple mare’s face, Rainbow Dash pointed her toward the stairs. “Take a look down there.” She stated while motioning toward the flight leading down.

Twilight walked over to the stairs but paused midway to them as she noticed something she hadn’t before. There was a trail of some kind of inky black substance tracked all the way to the stairs, even going down them. The trail resembled hoof prints, albeit slightly large ones. The substance itself had a faint and disgusting odor wafting off of it that made her nose crinkle up. “Ulgh… what is that stuff?” Twilight asked nobody in particular while distancing herself from the black goop. She hadn’t really expected an answer, but she would receive one as Sunspot walked up beside her.

“That’s ectoplasm. It gets left behind by something more powerful than the ghosts we’ve been dealing with called an inhuman spirit. Long story short, they are bad news.” Sunspot shuddered slightly and shook some troubling thoughts from her head.

“We think whatever left these went downstairs after Applejack and the others.” Glitterball added while stepping over to the edge of the stairs.

Twilight looked past the white unicorn and down to the next landing of the steps. The black substance continued down, however, there was a familiar red bow on the ground that had some of the goop splattered on it.

“Is that Applebloom’s bow?” Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise while briefly picking up the small ribbon of fabric with her magic. Once it was off the floor and out of the black gunk, there was no doubt about it.

“That’s what we figured. They probably left that there as another sign that they went further down like they did before with Applejack’s hat.” Sunspot explained with an impressed smirk. She was glad to see that the others were smart enough to try to send them messages despite their situation.

“I hope Sparkplug and the kids found the others. They will be safer in a group until we can get to them.” Twilight sighed while staring at the bow held in her magical grip and thinking of the group of children. She started cleaning off the black substance from the bow, resolving to give it back to Applebloom once they found their friends.

While the group was gathered by the stairs, they noticed footsteps coming from the hallway behind them. As they turned to look, they saw Tom and Glimmer Shine walking towards them, having returned from their search empty handed.

As they reached the gathering of ponies, the pair looked at the purple unicorn with surprised expressions.

“Twilight… it's good to see you awake.” Tom said with a pleased smile.

Twilight smiled in return before adopting a slight frown. “Hey, guys… I guess you didn't find them?” She said, noting the obvious lack of anyone else following behind the pair.

Glimmer Shine shrugged in disappointment. “No, unfortunately not. We're thinking they all went downstairs after all.” He said while motioning toward the red bow that the unicorn was holding.

Twilight glanced behind her toward the descending stairs. She and the others had spent so long trying to get down to the second floor, and now they were going even deeper. Just how far down does this place go? She wondered.

Shifting her eyes over to the trail of black goop formed into hoof prints, the unicorn thought to her missing friends. She hoped that she could reach them before they found something bad that they couldn't get away from. There was pure evil in this place, and death was not shy about rearing its ugly head.

“Come on… let's get down there. We need to find them as soon as possible.” Twilight said with a steely expression. The others looked at each other for a moment before nodding and gathering behind the unicorn. They were all ready to brave the unknown depths if it meant finding their friends, and a possible end to this nightmare.

---

-Earlier-

Applejack, Rarity, and their small group descended the stairs toward the third floor slowly. An uneasy feeling of apprehension hung in the air, and everyone was tense to some degree.

Applebloom and her friends huddled behind the four mares as they walked, staying close together and keeping their eyes and ears open for any signs of danger.

“Man… I can't believe those stupid keys only worked on the gate leading down here. And after we went through so much trouble to get them!” Scootaloo groaned in frustration.

“That's just our luck I guess… Nothin’ much has gone our way since we came down here.” Applejack said with an unimpressed expression.

“Don't worry everyone. I'm sure the others will come find us soon! Once they see my bow, they will come down here and rescue us.” Applebloom chimed in eagerly. The yellow filly's spirits were certainly left intact despite their bleak surroundings.

The group suddenly ran out of stairs to climb as they rounded the last bend. Another opening with another gate stood before them. There was a dark hallway that stretched out beyond the gate, with the area before the hallway bathed in orange-tinted light.

Rarity took the keys they had acquired earlier and brought them up to the locked gate. After unlocking the iron barred door, she swung it open, cringing slightly as the sound of squeaking metal filled the air.

As the group stepped out of the stairwell, they took a look around at their surroundings. The walls were a sickly yellowed shade of white, looking more aged than the relatively clean floors above. The brown carpet was dirty looking and faded. The light bulbs overhead had simple housings, letting their dim light spread out evenly across the room. However, a lot of the lights in the three hallways around them weren't functional at all, bathing the area in darkness.

“Look over there. I think there's another map on the wall.” Silver Bell pointed toward the left wall across from the stairs. Sure enough, there was a map of the floor framed up on the wall.

“Nice find, Silver.” Sparkplug congratulated the cream unicorn before walking over to view the map.

The ponies gathered around the frame on the wall, looking it up and down as Rarity and Silver Bell lit it up with their horns. Judging from the layout of the floor, this area was around the same size as the second floor. However, it was shaped differently with rough edges and a non-symmetrical layout. There were also more rooms in between hallways rather than hallways cutting around groupings of rooms.

“Hmm…” Rarity muttered curiously while eyeing the map and looking for something that stood out. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for, considering that finding a room labeled “emergency exit in case of ghost attack” was highly unlikely.

“I doubt any of the fire escapes will be open judgin’ by what happened to us earlier.” Applejack stated with a shrug.

“True… although we don't need to escape as urgently now that the others are down here with us.” Rarity added. She knew that the only way they were getting out of the resort now was to wait until the others got rid of the ghosts entirely.

“So, what do we do?” Sweetie Belle asked in an uncertain tone. The others were equally unsure of what to do, and more than a little uneasy.

“Well, we should keep moving. We don't want to make ourselves anymore of a target than we already are.” Sparkplug suggested while glancing around the area in a paranoid fashion.

“I think we can all agree on that. And since we're down here anyway, we might as well search around and see if we can find something useful… some information that could help Tom and the others fight the ghosts perhaps?” Rarity said with careful optimism brimming in her voice.

“I suppose takin’ a look around couldn't hurt none. Where to first?” Applejack asked curiously while taking another cursory look around the map.

Rarity looked over the map again. Aside from perhaps one or two areas, not much stood out. There were a lot of mascot workshops, which was an interesting change from the animatronics upstairs. “Uh… ooo! Look here!” The unicorn stated while eagerly pointing to a section of the map. “It looks like Berry's grandfather had a personal workshop down here. I'll bet we can find something there.” She suggested excitedly, happy to contribute to the group.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Sparkplug nodded in agreement to the white mare. She briefly looked over the map and memorized as much of it as she could before turning toward the hallway across from the stairs. “Come on, I can get us there no problem.” She motioned for the others to follow her as she stepped over to the dark corridor.

Although the group was slightly hesitant of walking around yet another dark floor that was most likely haunted, they all decided that staying put wasn't a good idea. Rarity walked ahead of the gray pony to light the way while everyone else trailed close behind.

However, unbeknownst to the ponies walking down the hall, they were already being watched. A black shape slowly staggered off of the stairs, pausing and watching the group’s fading light disappearing into the distance.

A few minutes went by as the group continued walking. The hallways on this floor were much windier than those upstairs. The few rooms they passed through seemed to be staff oriented, and most of them seemed unfinished. There were many boxes lying around, and the walls were bereft and devoid of wallpaper or any other sort of decorations. It looked like only the bare basics were completed before the work crew abandoned ship.

Spike and the three fillies kept in the center of the four mares as they walked. The kids looked around nervously, peering into every dark opening that led into more unknown. Despite how safe they convinced themselves they were, the entire floor was unknown to them. They were walking blind figuratively, and nearly literally.

The children weren’t the only ones afraid in the group. Everyone was on edge to some degree. For some reason, they were more uneasy here than they were on either of the two floors above. Something about this floor seemed different, almost like there was a constant presence around them that felt unnatural and wrong.

Arriving at another room that served as an intersection, the ponies and their dragon companion slowed to a halt. There were two more angled hallways to either side of the room, and a set of two doors on the back wall. One of the doors was cracked open slightly, and both doors had similar signs above them with large text written on them.

“Where to, navigator?” Applejack asked curiously while turning to Sparkplug. Her own recollection of the map was hazy at best, and she had lost track of where they were.

Sparkplug looked around the room for a moment and compared the exits to her memory of the map layout. “Uhh… I think it’s down that way.” She said while pointing toward the left hallway.

“You think or you know?” Rarity raised an eyebrow uneasily at the gray mare that was supposed to be leading the group. In her own words, the earth pony said that she could get them to their destination without a problem, but now the white unicorn was unsure.

“I know… I think.” Sparkplug smiled awkwardly before shying away from the shocked and accusing stares of the white mare. “Relax, I just got a little confused about where we were. That layout wasn’t exactly straightforward. I’m pretty sure we’re going the right way.” She clarified in what she hoped would be a reassuring tone.

Rarity sighed and shook her head while resting a hoof on her face. “I really hope you aren’t getting us lost darling… I don’t want to be in this place any longer than I have to be.” She said while trying to suppress the annoyed tone in her voice.

“What is this place anyway?” Scootaloo asked while looking around the room and trying to figure out the general purpose of the floor. Judging by the rooms she had seen thus far, she wasn’t sure what the space was meant to be used for.

Rarity took a few steps further into the room, casting her light over the darkness. Now that they were lit up, the signs above the two doors could be made out. They read “Mascot prep 4” and “Mascot prep 5” respectively. Through the crack in the door on the left, a rack with what looked to be costumes on it could be partially seen.

“Hmm… I suppose this is where the costumed characters would get ready to perform.” Rarity pointed out while opening the left door all of the way with her magic. Inside the small room, there were a few boxes sitting against the wall across from the costume rack. There was a mascot head of some sort of cat character sitting on one of the boxes. There were also a few other miscellaneous parts of various other mascot suits ranging from external clothing to entire headless suit bodies strewn around.

“I thought this place used robots instead of ponies in suits?” Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously while making her way closer to the open room with the others.

“No… the animatronics were still being developed when this place was built. The park back then used mechanical puppets or mascot actors.” Sparkplug explained. “Still… I don’t think a place this big would need this many prep rooms for costumed characters.”

The others were inclined to agree with the gray mare. Five rooms and possibly more filled with costumes seemed to be more suited toward a much larger theme park.

“Maybe Berry’s grandfather had plans on expanding even further after this place was done?” Silver Bell suggested semi-confidently.

While Sparkplug and the three fillies stepped into the room and examined it further, the others stood outside. Rarity and Silver Bell tried their best to remain close to the group to provide light, but much of the room was still dark, including the three openings leading out into hallways.

Rarity watched in abject disgust as Sparkplug rifled through the many costumes and outfits on the rack with ease. The faded clothes were much too dusty for her comfort level, and she didn’t like her younger sibling being so close to such filth. Sweetie Belle was watching in curious wonderment as Scootaloo picked up the empty mascot head on the box and examined it.

“Wow… this thing must have been sitting here forever.” Scootaloo said, briefly entertaining the idea of putting the head on until she saw how dusty and grimy it was. The hollow inside of the orange head smelled about as off-putting as one would expect for something over fifty years old.

Sparkplug turned and looked at the mascot head that the trio of fillies was examining. “Huh… I don’t recognize the character. I guess the park had a much larger roster of mascots than we do now.” She noted with intrigue.

“Umm… Sparkplug, could we… perhaps… get moving?” Rarity asked with a pleading tone of voice.

The gray mare looked outside to see the unicorn nearly having a breakdown from watching others rooting around in ancient filth. “Aww, come on Rarity. A little dust never hurt anyone.” Sparkplug said with a jesting smirk.

“Actually I think that statement doesn’t apply to things this old. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of that fabric had mold growing on it.” Rarity said anxiously. “Scootaloo darling, could you please put that dreadful thing down. You don’t know where it’s been.”

Scootaloo glanced over to the older mare before looking back to the mascot head she was holding. “Aww… fine.” She frowned slightly while putting the cat back in its rightful place, which was fairly easy considering a sizable dust ring had formed on the box where it had been.

…Bless your soul…

Suddenly, a deep voice rang out around the rooms. The chilling disembodied voice immediately sent a chill through all who heard it, making them freeze up in fright.

“Did… anyone else hear that?” Spike asked nervously while looking around the room in a paranoid fashion.

“W-what was that?” Applebloom stammered while hiding behind one of the boxes in the prep room.

The group darted their heads around, but nothing could be seen except for the dark edges of the larger room. The voice didn’t seem to come from any specific direction. It was as if it came from directly inside the room they were in. Before they could wonder further about what the strange voice was, they heard scuffling coming from the left hallway.

“Guys, get over here!” Applejack whispered frantically to Spike and Silver Bell. The two briefly stared toward the darkened hallway with wide eyes before racing to get closer to the group.

As the young dragon scampered to get into the relative safety of the smaller prep room, the others lingered at the doorway for a moment and listened. Much to their horror, the scuffling noises got closer to them as a wave of coldness swept through the room.

Applejack and Rarity glanced to each other for a moment. Their nervous cringes made it clear that both of them wanted to hide. With a frantic nod of confirmation, they rushed into the small room with their friends and closed the door.

“Silver, turn off your light!” Rarity whispered frantically as the noise continued to get closer. By now it sounded more like frequent footsteps than random scuffling. The panicked unicorn did as instructed and let her horn dim. Rarity did the same before bracing herself up against the door and holding the handle along with Applejack.

“W-what’s out there?” Scootaloo asked hesitantly while poking her head out from around her fellow crusaders. In the darkness of the small room, looking at anything else was more fear inducing than any of the children could take.

“Ssshh… stay quiet.” Applejack hushed the group softly and remained facing toward them while propping herself against the door. She hoped that she could reassure the terrified kids, but she herself was scared out of her wits on the inside.

God…? …God….. God…?

The footsteps grew closer as the same voice from before echoed through the area. Once they reached the room outside, the footsteps stopped. Most of the ponies in the enclosed room were shaking with terror, while the others were frozen in anxious fright.

Silver Bell kept her eyes shut while covering her ears and clenching her teeth to prevent making noise. Still, her hushed yet frantic breathing mixed in with the others’ quiet noises of panic. Someone pressed against the door probably wouldn’t be able to hear them, but the noise from inside the room might as well have been a group of infants crying loudly as far as they were concerned.

Applejack and Rarity remained as still and silent as possible while holding the door closed. They eyed around the dark room, looking between their friends and each other and hoping to find something to keep themselves occupied and sane enough to keep relatively calm. The room outside was deathly quiet. The footsteps had stopped, and they couldn’t hear breathing of any sort except for their own.

A faint, stomach-churning odor started making its presence known. Rarity, Applejack, and Silver Bell all recognized the smell immediately. The room grew colder as a chill seemingly passed over them slowly. A pervasive feeling of dread was welling up inside everyone as their fear grew in intensity by the passing minute.

Suddenly, the door handle started to jostle. The unexpected movement nearly made Rarity squeal in fright, but somehow she swallowed her gasp and kept quiet.

I know you’re here… so, please help me out… please… I only ask for blessing…

The voice said in the same sort of gloomy monotone, though it was so unnaturally deep and distorted that it sounded like it belonged to some kind of demon. The ponies weren’t sure if its cryptic messages meant that it wasn’t entirely aware of its surroundings, or if it was just repeating random nonsense. Either way, they hoped that it wasn’t referring to them.

The jostling of the door handle grew more severe in spite of the two mares’ attempts at holding it still. Rarity and Applejack silently clenched their teeth from sheer stress as they put their all into keeping the handle from turning. Suddenly, however, the knob jerked and rotated all the way. The door was unlocked and nothing but their strength was keeping it shut now.

While the two ponies’ hearts skyrocketed and they silently accepted that they were going to die, the door remained closed despite the handle being twisted. Whatever was on the other side didn’t seem interested in opening the door itself.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doorknob released. Rarity and Applejack practically fell over from the slight movement from how much effort they were putting into keeping the door from opening. The sound of the footsteps returned, though this time they were moving back where they came from.

…God…? Where are you, god?

The voice echoed again, though this time it seemed to be getting quieter. The footsteps receded back toward the left, presumably taking the hallway out of the room. The ponies remained silent while listening to the noise getting fainter and fainter until they were left in silence again.

Applebloom let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. The other crusaders and their dragon companion also let out sighs of relief, albeit quietly. The group decided to remain relatively quiet just in case the danger wasn’t entirely gone.

Waiting for a solid minute or two, Rarity finally looked over to get Applejack’s opinion on what to do. The orange mare gave a guarded nod, which the unicorn nodded understandingly to in return. After spending so long in the dark and cramped room, the white pony carefully lit up her horn and started opening the door.

Rarity slowly peered out of the crack in the door. The room outside was empty as far as she could see, though the ominously dark openings to the hallways still loomed at the edges of her light. Still half expecting whatever terrible creature had just been outside to return, she gradually opened the door the rest of the way and stepped outside.

The others lingered near the door as the unicorn swept the room like some sort of designated scapegoat. Applejack was the next to step outside, wanting to be closer to her friend to back her up if the need arose. Eventually, everyone filed out of the room and scanned the area for danger.

Rarity silently peered around the room, her body still trembling every now and again. Nothing but the darkness around her and the empty room was there. “I… I think it’s gone… whatever it was.” She stated, hoping that her disbelief in jinxes wouldn’t come back to bite her.

“What in the hay was that thing? I didn’t know ghosts could be that scary!” Scootaloo said with an appalled expression.

“Do you think it was that thing from upstairs?” Silver Bell asked while turning to Applejack and Rarity for their opinions.

“No… that thing sounded a little different. Besides, it seemed awful interested in staying in that room we found it in. I don’t think it would come down here… I hope.” Applejack said with guarded confidence.

“Well whatever it was, we should head in the opposite direction.” Sparkplug suggested while turning toward the right hallway. “Thankfully that won’t be hard considering we were going that way to begin with.”

“You still remember the map after all that?” Rarity asked with an impressed raise of the eyebrow. With how scared she was, she would be lucky to be able to spell her name right if someone handed her a piece of paper.

“I told you I had us covered. Also… there was another map back in there.” Sparkplug replied with a confident smirk. The white mare could only chuckle warmly while smiling back.

“Well then… lead the way navigator.” Rarity said while bowing lightheartedly.

Sparkplug chuckled to herself briefly before taking the lead once more. The group closely followed the gray mare as she walked down the right hallway. All the while they kept a close eye to their rear, fearful that the owner of the disturbing voice would return.

More tense minutes of walking through dark hallways and rooms followed. The group passed through a sort of lounge area for employees, along with a kitchen, though this one was smaller and decidedly less disgusting than the one on the first floor. While they scanned through the areas they found, they kept moving toward their eventual destination.

Sparkplug looked around her surroundings to find any points that identified where they were and where they were going. Thankfully, they were making good progress if she was interpreting the area and comparing it to the map correctly. “Hey, I think we’re almost there.” She announced while turning to face the group.

“Really? That’s good news.” Silver Bell smiled with a pleased expression at the prospect of something going according to plan.

Sparkplug smirked before furrowing her brow and thinking back to the map. “Yeah, I think it’s… just at the end of this hallway actually.”

“Glad to hear. Hopefully, we can find somethin’ useful in there.” Applejack said optimistically.

With their goal close by, the ponies started paying more attention to the doors they were passing. Out in the darkness beyond the light provided by the two unicorns, the group could just start to make out the end of the hallway. There was an intersection that split off into two more directions past one last set of rooms. One of the doors at the end must have been the workshop they were seeking.

Sparkplug, having a better idea of where she was going than most of the others, rushed ahead of the group slightly and eagerly slunk to a door on the right. While the others caught up to her, she looked up to a placard on the door that read “C. Swirl” and smiled.

“This is the place.” The gray mare announced while grabbing the handle. She gave it a twist, expecting it to pop open with ease, only to be met with stiff resistance and disappointment. “What the…? Aww, come on!” She kicked the door lightly with her front hoof and shrugged before turning to the others.

“Locked?” Rarity asked with a disappointed frown.

Sparkplug nodded while still getting a handle on her frustration, confirming what the group had already gathered. “I can’t believe what rotten luck we have! Shouldn’t it be a statistical impossibility for this many doors to be locked when we need to get through them?” The gray mare asked nobody in particular. The others offered her little more than a shoulder shrug and some sympathetic expressions.

“Alright… there’s got to be some way to get in there.” Applejack reasoned with a determined expression. “Sparkplug, do you remember anythin’ from the map that might help?” She turned to the gray pony optimistically.

Sparkplug looked down in deep thought and focused. “Uhh… I think… oh! There are some supply rooms nearby. They are right in this hall if I remember correctly. Maybe one of them has the keys?” She suggested, motioning toward the rooms around the group.

“Well… it’s our best shot at the moment. At any rate, it’s better than standing around doing nothing. Let’s search around and see what we can find.” Rarity said with a determined expression. The others nodded eagerly, ready to do whatever it took to help.

The group split off into two teams, one for each side of the hallway. Silver Bell and Rarity were designated team captains due to their horns being valuable sources of light. Sweetie Belle decided to stay with Rarity, along with Spike and Sparkplug. Meanwhile, Applejack and Applebloom grouped up with Silver Bell, with Scootaloo joining as well. Both teams decided to start near the workshop and work their way back down the hall until they found something of note or ran out of rooms.

Although they weren’t more than a few feet away and never left earshot at any point, the ponies felt a little nervous with searching through the rooms lining the hallway. Some rooms branched off into other rooms, and some rooms had openings into other hallways entirely. All of the rooms, however, were steeped in darkness and potential danger, making it doubly important for everyone to work together and stick close to each other.

Sweetie Belle glanced down the hallway at the other group. Through some circumstance, the others were roughly two rooms ahead of them. Applebloom and Scootaloo glanced back to her briefly before they followed the two older mares inside.

“Don’t dawdle, Sweetie Belle. I want you to stay close to us.” Rarity called from inside the room the filly was supposed to be in.

“Coming!” Sweetie Belle hurried inside, not wanting to disobey her sister or stay out in the dark by herself. As she entered the room and caught up with her group, she took a look around.

The room was another medium sized one, taking up the space of two smaller rooms. There was a dividing wall that split up the room into two halves, with one serving as a lounge area of sorts, and the other serving as a mini dining area. The lounge had only one piece of furniture, which was a dusty green couch in the center of the room facing away from the opening into the dining area. There were a few boxes and crates dotted around, some of which were open and filled with loosely organized items of random assortment. The dining area was partially concealed by the two sections of wall, making the corners impossible to see from this angle. From what could be seen, however, the filly could tell that there was a rectangular table with a few chairs dotted around it.

Sweetie Belle looked over to find her companions, only to see them taking in the room as well and deciding where to search. Rarity stood in the center of the room, providing light for the group and looking around the room from where she was.

“Go ahead and take a look around, everyone. Just be careful and give a yell if you find something… unsavory.” Rarity cautioned without trying to sound too intimidating. Despite the unicorn’s attempt at levity, the prospect of bumping into something else out in the dark corners of the room unnerved the two children slightly.

Sparkplug was already sifting through some of the boxes off toward the back of the lounge, while Rarity started searching the couch cushions. Spike stood off to the side, seemingly overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.

“Hey, Spike… want to search in there with me?” Sweetie Belle offered, motioning over toward the dining room. The room was lit up well enough, and it did seem to be safe.

Spike took a moment to look over toward the other area before answering. “Uh… sure.” He nodded.

Sweetie Belle adopted a more serious expression and nodded to her newly acquired partner. She crept toward the dining area before reaching the dividing wall. Spike and the young unicorn both slowly stepped over the threshold formed by the two walls and took a look around.

The dark corners that seemed so intimidating before were revealed to be empty. However, there was an end table tucked into the front right corner that looked like it had a drawer. There were also other boxes behind the table that were open, beckoning to be searched.

With a nod of confirmation, the pair spread out and each took a side of the room. Spike went to go investigate the open boxes, while Sweetie Belle went straight for the end table.

Sweetie Belle stepped around a chair that had been knocked over and walked up to the table. This area of the room was heavily shaded in shadows due to Rarity’s light being blocked. Although it was more than a little unnerving, the filly had already cleared the room with her dragon companion, and there were no other openings to worry about.

“Now let’s see what’s in here.” She muttered to herself curiously while grabbing the knob of the table’s drawer. Giving it a tug, the filly realized that the drawer was stuck. After a few moments of aggressively pulling on the small drawer, it finally popped open, nearly sending her falling backwards in the process.

With the sound of her dragon friend rummaging through boxes somewhere behind her to remind her that she wasn’t alone, Sweetie Belle shifted all of her attention forward. Much to her intrigue and excitement, she saw a silhouette sitting inside the drawer. Reaching inside and pulling out the small object, the unicorn tried to see what it was in the darkness.

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head curiously while flipping the object over in her hooves. Judging from shape and size, and what little she could make out amid the shadows, the filly determined the object to be an old cassette tape. “What’s this doing here?”

“Find something?” Spike called out from behind her, much closer than she remembered him being just moments ago. The filly yelped slightly, nearly losing her balance and falling until she steadied herself with a little help from the surprised dragon.

“Don’t just jump out at a pony like that, Spike!” Sweetie Belle chastised the dragon with an upset frown.

“Sorry…” Spike winced sympathetically as he saw just how badly he startled the filly.

Sweetie Belle exhaled, taking a moment to calm herself down. “Anyway… I found a tape thing.” She said while holding out the tape for the dragon to see. “Too bad we don’t have anything to play it on…” She deflated slightly as she realized that her discovery was pointless without something to use it with.

Spike sighed while nodding slowly. “Yeah… that’s kind of a bummer. Oh well, at least we cleared the room. We should go back in there.” He suggested while motioning to the side. The filly glanced over to the lounge area and nodded in agreement. Even if they hadn’t found anything of use, they had searched the area like they were supposed to.

As the two children made their way back around the corner into the lounge, they saw Sparkplug and Rarity finishing up their searches as well. The pair frowned slightly as they noticed that the older mares had come up empty hooved just like they had.

“Oh good, you’re back.” Rarity said with a relieved tone as she saw the two kids walking back into the room. “Did you find anything?” She asked curiously, glancing down at the object held in her sister’s hoof with intrigue.

“Well… *Sigh* I found this in a drawer in there, but it doesn’t do us much good without a way to play it.” Sweetie Belle explained while holding up the cassette tape and wiggling it for show.

Sparkplug perked up slightly at the sight of the tape. “Here, let me see that.” She said while holding a hoof out expectantly.

“Huh…? What for?” Sweetie Belle asked with a confused expression, though she handed over the tape as requested.

The others watched curiously as the gray pony briefly examined the tape. Sparkplug quickly reached into one of the pockets on her coveralls and fished around for a moment before coming back out and holding up another small object. She was holding a tape recorder.

“What the… How did you get that?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused as ever but slightly amazed.

“I swiped it from the security room on the first floor before we ran out. I’m not the type to just leave something useful lying around.” Sparkplug explained with a smirk. With her companions offering her impressed and eager smiles, she loaded the tape into the recorder and hit rewind.

The high pitched sound of a tape being wound back rang out. Soon enough, the noise stopped and the recorder clicked, indicating that it was ready to play. Sparkplug quickly hit the play button and listened along with the others as the tape played out.

“*Krrzt* This is Hole Punch… it is currently Friday the seventh, and I am formally making a request for a reassignment.” The voice of a stallion played over the tape. Although the four didn’t recognize the voice, the name seemed familiar to two of them.

“Hole Punch…? Didn’t we find a note from a person with that name up in the museum?” Rarity asked curiously while looking up at Sparkplug. The gray mare nodded as she recalled the brief note.

“As of making this recording, I am part of the crew working down on the third floor. I… *Sigh* to put it simply, I really don’t like it down here. I’m not one to believe in ghost stories and rumors tossed around by some poor sleep deprived sap jumping at shadows, but there is some freaky stuff going on down here. Nearly everyone on the crew has heard or seen something… usually around the mascot workshops or the entrance to that cavern. I myself have had more experiences than I would like to admit… most of which I will probably be bringing up with a therapist sometime in the near future. I’ve already described in detail my utter disdain for that stupid rabbit suit. I wish they would hurry up and finish it already so they can jam it in some closet somewhere. I know for a fact I’ve heard that thing talking at night… it doesn’t help that the others know about it. And I know that the entrance to the cave is locked at all times, but people keep hearing noises coming from in there. Loose Screw actually asked me to go in there and check it out with him one night… heh… he wishes we were that good of friends. At any rate… I don’t care if anyone believes me or not. The bottom line is I want out of this madhouse. You can put me on the first or second floor, hay… you can even sit me in one of the tool rooms and let me babysit the tools all day. Whatever you do, I’m not staying another day in this place… and I am definitely not spending another night. You can fire me for all I care. *Krrzt*” The tape cut out, filling the room with silence once more.

The group looked at the tape recorder and pondered the message uneasily. Hearing someone describing ghostly events happening where they were wasn’t exactly comforting. For one of the construction workers to have been scared by what he experienced so much that he was willing to risk his job, the hauntings must have been bad back then, and they could only have gotten worse over time.

Sparkplug was the first to speak up. “*Sigh* Well, aside from making me feel worse about walking around here, I would say that didn’t help very much.” She said in a disheartened tone.

Sweetie Belle frowned slightly as her discovery got shot down. It wasn’t so much that the tape wasn’t useful that got to her, it was the fact that the tape had been their biggest find since they started their search.

Perhaps noticing the gloomy expressions around her, Rarity cleared her throat and spoke up. “I suppose we should get moving. I’m sure we’ll find something elsewhere.” She said optimistically, flashing a confident smile to brighten the mood.

“Yeah… there’s nothing else in here anyway.” Sparkplug noted while glancing around the room. They had already turned over the lounge area, and the white filly and her dragon companion had thoroughly searched the dining area.

The others got up and headed over to the door. Rarity opened it and ushered everyone out into the hallway. Once outside, they turned toward the next room they would be searching. However, they paused as they noticed Silver Bell’s group waiting for them.

“Are you guys done searching?” Rarity asked curiously.

Applejack smirked and walked closer to the four. “You could say that.” She said while holding up a small object for show. The others brightened up their faces as they saw that the orange mare was holding a keyring.

“You found the keys?” Sparkplug asked with an eager smile, to which the others nodded. “That’s great!” She cheered excitedly.

“How about we celebrate after we get into that workshop?” Applejack suggested with a slight chuckle.

With the keys in their possession, the group hurried back down the hall. They stopped toward the end of it and gathered around the workshop door. Applejack held up the keyring and started sifting through the keys to see which one would fit. While she was trying to unlock the door, the others were anticipating what they would find inside.

“I wonder if we’ll find some information on where the ghosts came from?” Scootaloo mused with an excited expression.

“I bet we’ll find some keys that will get us upstairs to the others.” Applebloom suggested confidently. Although the prospect of such a thing happening made the ponies smile slightly, they had more guarded assumptions with what they expected to find.

“Settle down girls. We’ll find out what’s inside soon enough.” Rarity said while getting the excited fillies under control.

Before the group could get the door open, however, they started to notice a change in the area around them. The air grew colder, and the darkness around them seemed more foreboding somehow. Despite how eager and excited they were for finding a way into the workshop, they felt uneasy and afraid all of a sudden for no discernable reason.

“Umm… is it just me or did it get really cold all of a sudden?” Sparkplug asked while rubbing her shoulders. As everyone looked around and noticed that they weren’t the only ones feeling uneasy, their concern only grew.

“Hey, does anyone else hear that?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously, hopeful that she wasn’t imagining things. The others fell silent for a moment and listened, only to widen their eyes as they heard what the filly heard. Muffled footsteps were coming from down the hallway.

They were sluggish and erratic, but they were definitely footsteps. It sounded like whoever was making them was stumbling or dragging their feet, and they were being painfully slow, but they were definitely getting closer.

All eyes were transfixed on the hallway now. The three fillies and Spike slowly backed up and huddled together behind the four older mares. Rarity and Sparkplug took a step forward while Silver Bell remained near Applejack, staring ahead nervously.

Although it was hard to make out, the ponies could start to see a shape moving in the distant darkness. They could hardly make it out, but it looked around the same height and shape as a pony.

“What on earth…” Rarity muttered anxiously while mentally preparing herself for the worst.

“Applejack, get that door open.” Sparkplug instructed uneasily. Whatever was coming their way, it wasn’t anything good.

“I’m workin’ on it… none of these dern keys fit.” Applejack replied with a frustrated tone. She hastily kept trying keys, hoping that the keyring they found wasn’t a dud.

Sparkplug strained her eyes while trying to discern what the dark silhouette was. She suddenly remembered the camera in her pocket and its night vision capabilities. After fishing around her pockets for a moment, she pulled the camera out and switched it on. As she flipped on the night vision and pointed it down the hallway, the sight that met her stunned her into silence.

“Wh… w-what the hay?!” Sparkplug exclaimed in a confused stupor. She looked up and down from her camera to the hallway frantically, her face growing paler with each passing second.

“Sparkplug, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone while observing the panicking mare.

“That’s… that’s not… W-what is that?!” Sparkplug backed up a step and stared down the hallway with a terrified expression.

Now that the gray mare had their full attention, the others grew more fearful of the approaching figure. Rarity walked over to her companion and tried to calm her down. However, as she looked at the screen of the camera, she widened her eyes in shock as well.

There was a grainy green-tinted view of the hallway, which was to be expected from a night vision camera. What wasn’t to be expected however was the silhouette that was walking toward them. The ponies viewing the screen didn’t know how to process what they were seeing. There was a roughly pony-shaped mass of static where the figure should have been. Rarity thought that the camera was malfunctioning at first, but then she saw that the static was moving. It was like a perfect outline of dead pixels was fixed to wherever the strange figure was.

…Hey…

A deeply distorted, gruff, and chillingly familiar voice called from down the hall.

…Wanna see my head come off?

Suddenly, a pair of glowing yellow eyes opened up in the darkness, roughly where the group could see the head of the dark figure. Just glimpsing at the yellow orbs made Rarity’s head start ringing. There was no doubt in her mind now. This was the creature they had seen upstairs.

“Don’t look at it!” Rarity yelled urgently while stepping in front of the four children. Although they were terrified and confused, the three fillies and the dragon beside them did as instructed and looked away.

Rarity did her best to avert her eyes from looking at the silhouette. She managed to dart her head to the side and cover her face with a foreleg. As she searched for anywhere else to look, however, she noticed Sparkplug still staring ahead wide-eyed.

“Uh… g-gh…” Sparkplug was audibly and visibly distressed as she kept her shaking eyes locked on the mesmerizingly eerie yellow lights. She seemed to be trying to look away, but she seemed physically unable to move her head or close her eyes.

“Sparkplug!” Rarity called to the gray mare while reaching up and turning her head away. Sparkplug dropped her camera to the floor and loosely struggled in the unicorn’s grip.

Rarity gently shook the distressed pony while keeping her from looking elsewhere. “Sparkplug, snap out of it!” She pleaded, briefly glancing to the side to see how close the figure was getting.

A deep chuckle echoed from the hallway. The sound seemed to have no correlation to the distance between the creature and the ponies, being loud enough that it sounded like it was in their heads constantly.

Finally, the shadowy figure reached the edge of Rarity’s light. The group could start to make out blurry details of it, though it paused as its two front legs stepped into the light. The legs were yellow and looked like they belonged to a mascot suit judging from the paws on the floor. The entirety of the suit’s fabric was covered in a thin layer of the same black substance the ponies had found upstairs that spidered out in streams and lines. However, the telltale smell that normally accompanied the substance was seemingly overshadowed by another smell that the group couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, it smelled sour and rotten.

It seemed like the more of the creature that became visible, the more intense the feeling of fear became for the observers. Even though she wasn’t looking at the creature’s eyes anymore, Rarity started feeling dizzy and disoriented again.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cried in a terrified and shrill tone.

“Grab Sparkplug and get away from it!” Applejack suggested urgently.

…Too late…

The suited figure stated with a brief chuckle. However, it didn’t seem like it was referencing the ponies or anything they were saying.

Rarity and the others watched in abject horror as the pawed feet on the ground lifted up and out of the light. The yellow eyes disappeared as the silhouette reached for its own head area. The sound of fabric brushing up against itself filled the air as the suit grabbed at its head with clumsy, impatient movements. After a short pause, the sound of something tearing filled the air. The sound was organic, much more organic than the ponies could stomach. Suddenly, something plopped to the floor just inside of the light with a wet splat. Rarity shakily trailed her eyes down and recoiled as she saw some kind of curdled and thick yellow liquid on the ground.

A terrified scream filled the air as the tearing sound continued, though the ponies were unsure of which one of them was making it. Before the mortifying display could continue, a bright flash of blue light whizzed around them, completely engulfing the hallway and surging toward the suited figure.

The ponies heard a distorted yell of pain as the light died down. They looked ahead to see the image of the yellow suit stumbling backwards fading back into the darkness. Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them.

“Everyone, this way!” A familiar voice called out to them. The group turned and noticed Glimmer Shine and Sunspot, along with Tom, standing at the end of the hall. The human was closer than the ponies were, and he started rushing over to them with his hand outstretched and his palm open.

“G-Glimmer Shine… Sunspot… Tom?!” Rarity stammered in a stunned voice while staring at the new arrivals wide-eyed.

Another distorted laugh filled the hallway as the shadowy figure stumbled forward. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but it seemed to have smoke or steam trailing off of its body. Despite whatever damage was caused to it, the creature kept moving forward in a slow and uncoordinated shuffle.

Tom got in between the ponies and the suited figure and held out his hand again, creating another brief blast of blue light. “Come on! Let’s go!” He exclaimed with a commanding tone while ushering everyone backwards. Rarity helped Sparkplug walk as she and the others headed toward Sunspot and Glimmer Shine, who were waving them over and directing them down the next hallway toward an intersection.

While the human kept pushing the mysterious yellow creature back with short bursts of his light, everyone else was distancing themselves from the area as fast as they could. Once they were a decent ways away, Tom started following them as they broke out into a run.

“Follow us! We’ll take you somewhere safe!” Sunspot said while pulling ahead of the pack of fleeing ponies.

While the group was fleeing, the still smoking mascot suit was left standing in darkness as their light faded and eventually vanished. It giggled to itself, purely because there was no one left to hear it, before turning and walking away at a slow pace.