Clubhouse of Horror VI

by Grenazers

Chapter 2 - The Lake of the Damned

After Sweetie Belle was done telling her scary story, all the ponies in the audience are excited. Sure they were scared at first, but that is the whole point of Nightmare Night. Having yourself a good time by being scared.

So with Sweetie Belle setting the mood, it is now Scootaloo’s turn with her own terrifying tale.

“My tale begins on one summer day when two brothers went to Lake Glistening for their vacation. Unbeknownst to the brothers, the lake is actually cursed. According to the legends, the lake caused the mysterious disappearance of many ponies over the years. Will the brothers make it out alive or will they fall victim to…

The Lake of the Damned

It was summer time for the ponies of the Equestria. That meant no school for Cloud Blaster and time off work for Aerial Twist. The two ponies are pegasus brothers, with Cloud being the younger brother and Aerial being the older one.

According to the weatherpony, the first week of the summer is going to be extremely hot. So to combat against such a heat, the two brothers are heading west to a secluded place called Lake Glistening.

Now the reason why this lake was so secluded is because it is hidden away in a forest. Since the lake is not known by the general public that meant the brothers have the whole lake to themselves.

So then after packing up all their essential supplies, they flew west into the huge forest area. They kept on flying until they reach their destination, a large beautiful lake hidden within the thick foliage.

Once they set their things down, the brothers then ran towards the lake, both cannon balling in. Cloud Blaster and Aerial Twist made two big splashes as they felt the cold water enveloping their bodies.

The two brothers then proceeds to play together. They splash water at each other, passing a beach ball to one another and even dive down to see underwater.

The next game they play was suggested by the eldest one, Aerial Twist. They were going to race back to the side of the lake where they left their stuff. The one to get their first will not only be the winner, but also earn themselves bragging rights.

Cloud was against the idea, knowing full well Aerial was a much better swimmer then him. However, before he could object the older brother immediately started swimming. Cloud knew there was no way he could out swim his brother, but his competitive nature and pride won’t let that stop him and he soon began swimming as hard and fast as he can.

Despite his best efforts, Aerial was already far ahead of him. Cloud Blaster didn’t give up though and kept on pushing himself to catch up with his brother.

However, as the little brother swam, he suddenly starts feeling heavy. The little colt soon finds himself unable to stay afloat as his body kept sinking into the water.

Cloud struggle to keep his head above the water, but eventually he was completely submerge into the lake. Looking up he see the surface of lake slowly distancing itself away from him as he continue to sink down deeper and deeper into the cold dark abyss. Cloud’s consciousness starts to fade, leading to him blacking out.

---

It was the dead night at Lake Glistening and all is silent. The darkness covers the whole lake with the only light source coming from the moon. The image of the moon is perfectly captured in the lake’s black surface. The reflection looked so real you would’ve confused it with the real one.

---

Suddenly the image of the moon in the lake was interrupted when a lone boat floated in and ruined the perfect reflection. Onboard the small boat there was a silhouette of a single pony. The pony then pick something up from the boat and dump into the lake, watching it sink down before leaving the scene.

The vision then ends when the young colt regains consciousness. Cloud Blaster cough out some water before opening his eyes to see the worried look of his brother. Apparently Aerial Twist saw him drowning, so he swam back and rescued him.

After Aerial made sure his brother was alright, he asks him if he wants to call it a day and head back home. The little colt told his brother he was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

Despite Cloud’s reassurance, the little colt was reluctant to head back into the lake. Understandable, he almost drowned, but that was only half the reason. The other half is that strange vision he had. He didn’t know why, but he finds that vision quite eerie and unsettling.

After some procrastinating, Cloud finally step into the lake and began swimming towards his brother.

However, as soon as he swam further into the lake he felt the same feeling from before. His body was getting heavier as he struggles to stay afloat.

Soon enough his head dive down into the water and the little colt witness the most horrifying thing he has ever seen. There were hundreds of bloated pony corpses, all swimming upwards to catch the little colt.

Before he knew it two of those undead ponies’ hooves grab onto him. They then proceed to pull the little colt down deeper into the lake. But, before they could drag Cloud Blaster down any further, the colt felt two strong hooves from behind that pulled him upwards.

Aerial Twist pulled his little brother out from the lake who then proceeds to gasp for air. When he asked what happened, Cloud frantically yelled at him to take him away from the lake and that there was something in the lake.

Heeding his brother’s warning, the older brother flew over to the spot where they stuff are and carefully put his brother down on the ground.

Once the little colt calmed down, he told Aerial everything. About the undead ponies down in the lake and the strange vision he had when he passed out.

Now in most stories, you would assume Aerial would’ve scoff off the idea of monsters and ghost, believing that his little brother was just imagining things. However, when you live in a world where myths and legends are becoming real, why would zombies be unbelievable?

Aerial Twist then took his brother back home and away from this place.

---

Almost three days have passed since that incident and things were back to normal. Cloud Blaster was back outside playing with his friends as if the thing a few days ago never happened. Meanwhile, Aerial Twist was concern about the lake and went to his local library to look it up.

The results from his research told him of the lake’s infamous history. Apparently it was responsible for over a dozen of disappearances throughout the years. Anyone that dares swims in the lake will suddenly be pulled down and will never be seen again. Because of the lake’s dangerous nature, ponies were warned not to go to Lake Glistening or else suffer the same fate of those before.

That was all the information he got from his intensive research at the library. All that effort he put into and all it did was told him what he already knows, that the lake was dangerous.

Tired, Aerial decided to head back home to relax and try again tomorrow. When he did get home, the older brother heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Believing his brother is taking a bath, he was about to head to his room when he notices water flooding through the door.

The stallion quickly knocked on the door and call out to his little brother, asking him what is going on in there. When he receives no response, Aerial started bashing against the locked bathroom door.

Once the door finally gives, he burst right in and is horrified at sight before him, his little brother drowning in the bath tub.

---

10 Minutes Ago

Cloud Blaster enters his home and sat on the couch in the living room. The little colt was recently done playing with his friends and when he was exhausted, he decided to call it a day and head back home.

He continues to lay there on the couch until he realizes how much he stinks. So fighting against his tired body, the little colt got up and went straight for the bathroom.

Cloud filled the tub with hot water before jumping in and sighing in relief. The heat from the waters helped relax the little colt and made his stress go away.

He still thinks about the lake incident a few days ago, thankfully he’s back home and hanging with his friends help alleviate those memories. Now he just wants a nice and relaxing bath.

As the colt lays there with his back against the wall of the tub, he suddenly hears the sound of water pouring from the faucet. Confused, Cloud reach out to turn the water off, only find that the knobs were already closed.

Then all of a sudden more waters started pouring out from the faucet, overfilling the bathtub. Thinking this was some kind of plumbing problem, Cloud was about get out, but something pulled him down.

Realizing that this was a similar situation from before, Cloud couldn’t do anything as he felt himself being pulled down into the bathtub and blackout.

---

It was the same vision he had when he first drowned. A dark night at the totally blacken lake with the bright moon hanging overhead, providing the only source of light to the scene. Then there’s the same black silhouette of a pony riding a boat.

This time however, Cloud can hear the sound of crying coming from the boat. Recognizing that sound of a crying baby, he was confused as why there was a baby onboard.

The vision continue to play the same way as before, but when the pony pick up the thing from its boat, Cloud can hear it crying. Quickly realizing what was going on, the little colt watch in horror as the pony silence the baby’s cries but dumping it into the lake.

However, unlike last time where the vision ended there, he started to follow the sinking baby as it descends down deeper in the darkness below.

As Cloud continues to watch, he started to sense strong feelings coming from of the drowning foal. He sensed its sadness, its betrayal, its rejection and its anger. It cried out for somepony to rescue it, but its cries for help went unanswered.

Cloud awoke from his vision with his older brother standing over him. When he saw that his little brother was up, Aerial asks what happened in there.

Once the little colt regains his composure, he shares everything with his brother. From what happened in the bathroom to the new vision he had while drowning.

---

It was hours later into the day with the sky orange and the sun almost starting to set. Both Cloud Blaster and Aerial Twist were flying through air, heading straight back to the cursed place, Lake Glistening.

The reason why the two brothers are going back to that accursed lake is because of the discovery they made back home. After Cloud told his brother about the pony dumping the foal into the lake, Aerial remembered reading something about it while researching.

Apparently the first reported pony to ever disappear from the lake is a foal. The little colt was barely a year old before his sudden disappearance. Interesting enough his own mother soon followed afterward, becoming the second victim.

When Cloud informs his brother about the emotions the foal went through while drowning, it remind Aerial of an old folktale he heard when he was just a colt. The story was about a pony that died while being sad. The pony was so sad in fact that his spirit lingers on even after death. Over time the spirit eventually became a revenant that now lashes out against the living.

Hearing this story they theorize that the foal became this revenant after feeling abandon and betrayed by his own mother, who became his first victim.

According to the story, there was only one way to rid this evil ghost and it is by finding the foal’s skull and breaking it.

The two brothers landed on ground near Lake Glistening, both wearing their breathing mask and wielding hammers for weapons. Both brothers were determined to complete their task at hoof, otherwise Cloud will never be left alone.

At first Aerial tried to talk his brother out of this, but his little brother was insistent that he comes along. This was his problem and he didn’t want his brother risking his life because of it.

Seeing the determination in his eyes, he agreed to let him come along. The two then trotted towards the lake and dive right in.

When the brothers went deeper into the waters, it started becoming darker as they swam further away from the sun. Even with the flashlights they brought along it was still going to be hard to find a skull in this big lake.

The only thing that might help them is the knowledge of where the foal was dumped. Remembering the vision, the mother sail her boat in the center of the lake and dumped her baby right there.

As the brothers kept on searching, they felt an eerie sensation like someone was watching them, as if the revenant knew what the two were up to.

Suddenly several bloated pony corpses emerge from the darkness and attacked the brothers.

Aerial fought them off while Cloud continues looking for the skull. Every time, one of those zombies tried to go after Cloud, Aerial swim in and block their path.

Cloud watches as his older brother valiantly fought off the hordes of zombie ponies. However, he knew that his brother was tiring himself out with every second he fights and he needs to find that skull fast.

While searching though the ground, a rotted hoof pop out and attempted to grab the colt. Cloud reacted by swimming away, but was knocked away by the hoof, losing his hammer in the process.

He landed on the ground where his head struck something. Looking up, he find himself staring at a little pony skull. Realizing his luck in finding the foal’s skull, he was about to reach for his hammer only to discover that he lost it.

Looking back at this brother, Aerial was now being swarmed by the horde of zombies as every one of them converges on the stallion.

Seeing the danger his brother was in, Cloud looked around for something hard to break the skull. He found neither his hammer nor even a rock to smash this skull. As the little colt panic he then realizes that his own breathing mask was pretty hard.

Cloud wasted no time and started bashing the skull with his mask, knowing full well of the danger he was doing. He kept it up as he sees both his visor and skull were starting to crack. Finally with one last bash, the skull broke and his visor shattered, letting the water into his mask.

The last thing he saw before passing out was the horde of zombies harmlessly floating away in the water.

---

It was night time when Cloud regain consciousness and the first thing he notice was that he was back at the house, laying on the couch. Nearby his brother was sleeping on a recliner chair.

When Cloud woke him up, Aerial was happy to see his brother was alright. The little brother returns the feeling and asks what happened.

Aerial told him everything, about how he found the skull and ended the curse at Lake Glistening forever.

Happy to hear the news, the Cloud went back to sleep on the couch, glad that this whole ordeal was over.

THE END