The Mansion in the Woods

by Vertigo22

Visit 1: Housewarming Gift

The light of the moon illuminated the dark, gloomy night. A faint breeze rustled the branches of the trees that made up the woods of Canterlot.

For Sunset Shimmer, it was the perfect night to be in her bed, huddled under a blanket, and asleep.

“So, is this the place?”

Life wasn’t that kind to her though.

Rainbow Dash yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Oh, we’re here already?” she asked groggily. She sat up and looked out. “Turn the high beams on.”

Sunset flicked a switch. “That better?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yep, this is the place,” she said. “Let’s go. I’m tired and don’t wanna be up for any longer than I have to be.”

“You know that we were told we have to be up all night for this, right?”

“Oh…” Rainbow let out a groan and sunk in her seat. “Crap.”

Sunset chuckled. “C’mon, you big baby. We can explore the place while we wait for daybreak. And looking at it, there’s a lot to explore.”

Indeed, the house that stood before them was a full blown mansion and, from what Sunset could see, it was at least three stories.

Rainbow grumbled to herself and grabbed her backpack from the back seat. “You think this place is actually haunted?” she asked as she got out of the car.

Sunset shrugged and retrieved her backpack from the back seat. “I’d never even heard of this place until Pinkie dared us to stay here,” she replied. “Looks… really run down though.”

“Some rich family used to own this place until, like, twenty or so years ago,” Rainbow said as she and Sunset walked up to the front door. “Then the owners got killed.”

“Lovely.”

“Eh, I mean, it’s what I heard. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Nobody really does. The owners were always shut-ins.” Rainbow opened the front door and stepped inside. A few paintings hung from the wall, some of which had been defaced. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, the lightbulbs having been blown. The floor was covered in a torn up velvet carpet. To the left was a living room—and opposite that; a large door labelled kitchen.

“Well, it looks better on the inside than the outside.” Sunset stepped in and shut the door behind her. She placed her backpack on the floor and unzipped it. Inside was a bottled water, some snacks, a flashlight, and batteries. A lot of batteries. “So, where do you wanna go first?” she asked as she took out the flashlight.

“Bed.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Now, would you really break a Pinkie Promise like that?”

“Yeah.”

Sunset flicked the side of Rainbow’s head. She zipped her backpack up and walked over to a nearby couch, placing it on the torn-up piece of furniture.

“You sure this is the best place to keep our stuff?” Rainbow asked.

“Nope, but it’s better than carrying these around everywhere.” Sunset and looked back at Rainbow and smiled. “Now, how about we go look in… that room!” She pointed to a door that rested not too far from the staircase. Carved into it was the number one.

Rainbow let out a sigh of defeat. She grabbed the flashlight from her own backpack and flicked it on. “Fine, let’s go.”

The two girls walked up to the door, with Rainbow showing significantly less enthusiasm than her friend, who ran up to the door. She turned on her flashlight on and opened it.

“Hello. Are you here to see Mommy?”

Sunset and Rainbow both screamed and staggered backwards until they hit the side of the staircase. “W-Who are you?” Sunset asked, shining the light on the child. She was dressed in old timey garb, and was pale.

“I’m Mommy’s first and only child. She’s ill right now. She’s at the end of the hallway if you want to talk to her.”

Sunset and Rainbow looked at each other. “Who’s… ‘Mommy’?” Sunset asked, hesitantly.

“My mom…”

“Oh.” Sunset let out a sheepish chuckle. “I knew that.”

“Sure you did,” Rainbow muttered. “Anyways, what are you doing here, kid? I thought this place abandoned.”

“Mommy doesn’t like visitors.” The child walked up to the two girls. “Mommy says you two should leave.” With that, she walked away before vanishing into thin air.

Likewise, the color from Sunset’s face vanished.

Less so for Rainbow, whose uninterested tone was replaced with unadulterated glee.

“Oh my gosh!” She jumped up and down, squealing like a schoolgirl. “This place is haunted!” She grabbed Sunset by the shoulders and shook her. “We have to explore more!”

So much for sleep.

Sunset stared blankly for a bit, trying her best to figure out what had just happened. Once she managed to piece together the events of the past minute, she spoke up.

“What the heck just happened?”

Silence.

“Rainbow?” Sunset looked around, only to find that she was all alone. “Rainbow!?”

“What?” Rainbow poked her head out from the room the child had been in. “Did you find Mommy?”

Sunset let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.” She walked over to Rainbow. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Nah.” Rainbow wrapped an arm around Sunset. “But hey, we have a whole night to ourselves in a haunted house! It’s gonna be awesome!”

“You’re… not at all concerned with whoever Mommy is?”

“Psh. Nah!” Rainbow waved a hand dismissively. “If things get too rough, we can always run and tell Pinkie that there really is something terrible in here. Now come on! We got a lot to look at!”

Sunset nodded and took her flashlight back out. She turned it on and looked around the room. For the most part, it was empty; a mattress resided in the middle of the room, with a bookshelf set up behind it.

“Wow, whoever lived here sure loved the simple life.” Sunset stepped in and walked up to the bookshelf. “They sure loved… guides on cooking, too.” She turned to Rainbow. “Do you think this was the kid’s bedroom?”

“C’mon, Sunset, there’s no way a family that could afford this kinda house would leave a kid in a room like this.” Rainbow turned around and ran over to her friend’s side. “This was probably a storage room. Now c’mon, let’s go someplace cooler!” As she ran towards the doorway, she was blocked by the child.

“Do you like my bedroom?”

Rainbow tilted her head. Behind her, she could hear Sunset snicker. “’scuse me?”

“Mommy bought me what she could afford. Daddy took the rest of the money for himself.” The child looked down at the floor. “Daddy always took the money…”

Sunset walked over to Rainbow’s side. “What’d he take the money for?”

The air around the child grew significantly warmer. “Other Mommy,” she said in a deep voice.

“I… take it she’s a touchy subject?” Rainbow asked.

The child vanished.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Rainbow turned to Sunset. “So… I’m gonna go somewhere that doesn’t have an evil sounding ghost kid. You in?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah,” she replied with the enthusiasm of a child who was chewing on vegetables. With that, she walked into the living room. A torn up couch rested against the wall, right beside a large, broken window. Ahead of it was a fireplace that had nothing adorning it but dust, which rested atop older dust. It was difficult to look any deeper than that, but there was probably more dust. And bricks, eventually.

“Well, good to know that Daddy used his money to really make this place feel like home,” Rainbow remarked. She hopped onto the couch, causing a spring to narrowly miss her and fly up into the air.

“Man, this thing is really uncom-”

Whack!

Rainbow rubbed her head and threw the spring across the room. “Suddenly, this is a really nice couch.”

“I guess Daddy doesn’t like it when you judge his way of spending money.” Sunset walked over to a bookshelf that was hidden in the shadows.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked around the room. “What’s over there? More cooking guides?” she asked, staring at the fireplace.

“Close.” Sunset grabbed a few books and brought them over. “Dictionaries.” She dropped them on the floor, causing the floor beneath the carpet to break. She looked at Rainbow gave a sheepish smile. “Oopsy daisy…”

“Smooth.” Rainbow shone her flashlight around, hoping to find something—anything—that might be interesting. “Man, this room is…”

“Boring?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, that’s one way to put it.” Rainbow flicked the tool off and sighed. “I’m a little shocked. This place has never been exactly high profile, so I doubt some burglar would’ve come here and picked it clean.”

“Well, you did say that it’s been abandoned for twenty years,” Sunset replied. “That’s a pretty good amount of time for someone to find out about it and come take whatever they wanted.”

“Twenty years is what I’ve heard most often,” Rainbow said. “I’ve also heard five years. Some say two.” She stood up and stretched out. “So, any other bedrooms down here that we can poke around in?”

“I think there was a room next to the child’s room,” Sunset said. “Wanna go poke around there?”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “You wanna go back to the area where that kid was?” She asked. “The one who sounded like she could grow ten feet tall and eat us like we were kebabs?”

“Aww, what’s wrong?” Sunset asked in a mocking tone. “Is wittle Rainbow Dash afraid of a wittle ghost kid?”

Rainbow’s eye involuntarily twitched; she stood up and ran back the way they’d come. “Yeah, there’s one here with a number two on it.”

Never fails to work. Sunset chuckled to herself, walking over to Rainbow’s side. “Think it’s Mommy’s room?”

Rainbow shrugged and opened the door. Inside of it was a queen-sized bed with a large painting above it. A red velvet couch, several dressers, a table with a large mirror on it adorned with rows and rows of perfume.

“I guess we found a portal to Rarity’s room,” Rainbow said as she stepped inside. The odor of numerous perfumes filled the air. “Certainly smells like it…”

“That’s way too kind, Rainbow. Even her room doesn’t smell like a place that you’d need a gas mask to breathe in.” Sunset stepped inside and looked around. Try as she may, she couldn’t help but wish her own room was as nice as this. It reminded her a lot of what she had when she was Celestia’s student. Perhaps even nicer (once she got past the unbearable smell of fifteen different kinds of perfume).

Rainbow, for her part, walked over to the bed and stared up at the painting of a woman. She looked like royalty, having regal brown hair that went over her shoulder and a diamond necklace. A tiara rested atop her head, fitted with several gems.

“Hey, Sunset, who ya think this is?” Rainbow asked. “Think she’s that ‘Mommy’ that kid mentioned?”

Sunset walked over and looked at the painting.“Didn’t that kid say that Daddy took all of the money from Mommy?” she asked. “How on Earth would she be able to look like a princess?”

“Maybe Mommy was clever and pocketed some of it without Daddy knowing,” Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Sunset didn’t respond. Instead, she continued to stare at the painting. The longer she did, the more something felt… off. After a bit, she finally found out what it was. “Rainbow… she looks like she’s staring at you.”

Rainbow rubbed her eyes and narrowed them. “Huh, she does.” She folded her arms. “Bet she couldn’t beat me at a staring contest though.”

The painting raised a hand and flipped Rainbow off.

“...Sunset.”

“I see it.”

“This Mommy’s a real bitch...”

“While Mommy is unhappy with your opinion of her, she would like for you to know that that is not her. She is, however, happy that you share a similar opinion as she does for the person in the painting.”

Both girls turned around to see the child standing in the doorway, her normally blank expression having been replaced with one of displeasure.

“So, who is it?” Rainbow asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“Come outside and I will show you.”

Rainbow and Sunset exchanged looks of confusion before walking out of the room. Once they had, the looked down at the child, who slammed the door shut and vanished.

“I guess she didn’t want us in there,” Sunset remarked.

“She could’ve just told us...” Rainbow turned to the large staircase that was next to them and looked up. “Well, I guess that’s the only way to go.”

Sunset nodded and the two ascended upstairs, which lead to a hallway. A very, very long hallway. “Well...” She took out her flashlight and flicked it on. Shining it down both sides, she found she wasn’t capable of seeing where they inevitably ended. “Alright, which way do you wanna go first?”

“Uhh... right,” Rainbow replied. “First room we see, let’s barge in like lunatics.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “And why do you want to do that?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Just feel like it.”

“We’re not doing that,” Sunset said as she walked down the right portion of the hallway.

“Aww.” Rainbow followed until they reached the first door they saw, which ended up being roughly ten steps from where they started. Without hesitation, Rainbow ran over to the door and ran into it.

And broke the entire thing off of its rusted hinges.

“Whoa!” Rainbow couldn’t keep her balance as she flew into the middle of the room, which was devoid of everything, save for a single book that rested in the center of the room.

Sunset looked into the room and then down at Rainbow. “I thought I told you not to-”

“It was worth it.” Rainbow stood up and brushed herself off. “So, what would you rate that?”

“A four,” Sunset deadpanned.

“Out of five?”

“Ten.”

“Screw you.”

Sunset giggled and then set her sights on the book. “What’s that?”

“A book.”

Sunset shot Rainbow a stare that would make even a basilisk turn to stone. “I know that much, genius.” she said. “I mean, what’s in it?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I didn’t check it on my way down to the floor.”

“I was kinda thinking that child would appear and exposit on what it is.” Sunset walked over to the book and picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy, and covered in a ridiculously thick layer of dust. She brushed it off, revealing a blank, brown cover. “Alright, let’s see what lies within your pages.”

“You sound like Twilight.”

“Quiet, Rainbow.” Sunset opened the book, only to blush like she’d just received her first kiss. She shut the book and dropped it to the floor. “Oh...”

Rainbow ran over and picked the book up herself, opening it the second she had it in her hands.

Then she too dropped it.

“Oh... okay.” She let out an awkward cough and shifted uncomfortably. “Looks like we found Daddy’s... um, private collection.”

“Actually, you found Uncle Bob’s collection.” The child held a laugh back as she saw both girls’ faces. “And I see you decided to look at it. I’m sure that he’ll be glad to know that you both enjoyed it.”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “W-We didn’t-”

“Sure you didn’t.” The child disappeared into thin air as a giggle filled the air.

Sunset covered her face and let out a groan. She felt Rainbow place a hand on her back and gently rub it. “Thanks, Rainbow.”

“Uhh...” Rainbow cleared her throat.

Sunset slowly took her hands off of her face and turned her head to the side.

A man dressed in casual, early twentieth century attire stood at her side. He had a slim build, and looked as though he came from a moderately wealthy family.

“Hello.” he said in a calm voice. “Did you like my collection?”

Sunset’s eyes nearly burst out of her head. Without a second thought, she ran out of the room, Rainbow following closely behind.

“Hm. I guess they didn’t go past page one.” Uncle Bob picked up the book and flipped to page two. “Ahh, Muffins. I miss you and your precious meowing.”

“Meow.”

Uncle Bob looked down to his left. “Muffins!” He picked the ghostly cat up. “You need to stop wandering off.”

---

In the hallway, Sunset and Rainbow ran. Exactly where was anyone’s guess, as neither of them had the slightest clue. Any place where Uncle Bob wasn’t seemed appealing. Eventually though, they stopped running.

Thud.

Mainly because both of them ran face-first into the door that lay at the end of the hallway.

“Ow...” Sunset stood up, rubbing her face. “Any idea if Bob’s following us?”

Rainbow stood up, also rubbing her face. She took her flashlight out and flicked it on before standing up and behind them. “Uhh... I don’t see anyone.” She squinted her eyes. “Looks like we ran pretty far though. I can’t even see the stairway.”

“Well, at least we’re away from him.”

“And here I thought you were the empathetic one.” Rainbow chuckled and turned her flashlight off before looking at the door they’d run into. She sighed as she read the word that was engraved into it.

Library

“Great...”

“Oh, come on now Rainbow,” Sunset said. “Maybe there’s some Daring Do books that you’ve never read.” She opened the door, revealing a room with shelves that stretched up several feet. Every one of them was lined with books of all sizes, some small enough that they could be mistaken for simple fliers and others large enough that they looked like an encyclopedia and an atlas had a baby.

Rainbow stared wide-eyed at the room. Her mouth hung open for several seconds as she took in the sight. “I... guess this is what a wet dream would look like to Twilight.”

“You really think this is what she dreams of?” Sunset stepped into the room and looked around. She could barely comprehend the collection that this family had amassed. There must have been thousands of books in this room alone. The mere thought of what may lie in a storage room made her stomach sink. “Okay, maybe you’re right...”

Rainbow stepped into the room and gawked at the shelves of literature. “Yeesh, how old are some of these books?” She walked over to one of the shelves and picked out a random book. “I think this thing was written back when we still lived in caves!”

“C’mon, Rainbow. They’re not that old.” Sunset walked over to Rainbow’s side and grabbed a book. She opened it, only to have several pages fall out. The ones that stayed surprised her. The print was faded to the point that it looked as though it would take a microscope to make out what the letters had been. The color of the pages, meanwhile, had been defiled by time, and most were severely damaged. “Oh... okay.” She shut the book and blew the dust off. “Shakespeare?” She raised an eyebrow. “Is this... the original copy of his work?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Rainbow said. “If they could afford this many books and had been this rich for this long, they could probably find the original copies of Wankspeare’s works.”

Sunset turned to Rainbow and narrowed her eyes to the point that Rainbow had evolved from Rainbow Dash to Rainbow Blur. “Now was that comment really necessary?” she asked in a voice that Rainbow knew only came when one of two things had been done. The first being that she said something that Sunset deemed stupid.

The other being that someone had eaten her yogurt.

Still, Rainbow responded as she deemed fit. “It absolutely was.”

“It absolutely was not.” Sunset bonked Rainbow on the head and walked away.

Nobody insulted her favorite author.

Nobody.

Rainbow shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. Man, I do not understand her love for Hamlet. She turned around and followed Sunset to the other side of the room, where they both stopped in front of another foreboding shelf of books. However, before either of them could go and inspect the contents of it, one of the books flew off the shelf.

Then another.

And another.

Before either girl knew it, books were flying off the shelves left and right, each of them stacking into crude human-like figures. Once every book had flown off the shelf, the room fell eerily silent. Both girls stood motionless, letting out slow, steady breaths. Hesitantly, Rainbow turned her head to Sunset and stared her dead in the eyes. “What do we do?” she whispered to her.

Sunset put a hand up to her chin and thought for a moment. After a bit, she cautiously moved her head as close as she could to Rainbow’s ear and whispered, “At the count of-”

Before Sunset could finish her sentence, one of the nearby figures snapped its head towards her and stumbled towards her, its every movement resulting in a surprisingly loud thud, and stopped in front of both of them. It held an arm out and opened the book that both girls imagined would be its hand, and clamped it down on Sunset’s hand.

“Ow!” Sunset attempted to yank her hand free. “L-Let me g-”

The figure clamped its other hand down onto her shoulder, albeit significantly gentler, and began to do something that neither girl could’ve ever imagined it’d do.

It danced with her.

Rainbow watched in awe and confusion as the figure spun Sunset around, happily bouncing around while Sunset’s facial expression jumped between one of absolute terror and one of unsure joy. “Don’t, uh, worry, Sunset! I’ll get you!” She waited until the figure spun Sunset once more, at which point she ran and grabbed her friends arm. “Come on! Let’s go!”

Sunset gave a compliant nod and ran alongside Rainbow towards the door. As they approached it though, a large shadow was cast over them, and a barricade of the figures formed in front of them. “Oh… okay.” Sunset backed up. Each beat of her heart caused her head to head to throb slightly. Eventually, she backed up into something; tilting her head upwards, she saw one of the figures look down at her. It raised an arm and waved. “Uh… hello.”

“Sunset, I don’t think they can hear-”

Rainbow’s sentence was cut off as another of the figures formed beside her and spun her around—catching her mid-spin, only to send her off in another direction.

“Please, just let us—ah!” Sunset struggled to free herself as two books clamped down on her hands, but to no avail. Before she knew it, she found herself an unwilling dance partner to quite possibly the most absurd thing she’d ever laid her eyes on. The movement of the figures was mind boggling: in spite of an appearance that she thought would render this things to little more than a zombie straight out of a classic horror movie, it was capable of maneuvering like a professional dancer. It swayed with the grace of a lifelong theater performer, moved with the grace of an olympic skater, and was stronger than she originally thought, as it lifted her over its head and twirled her around with a single appendage; thinking about exactly how this apparition was able to do all this caused Sunset’s head to hurt even more than it already did.

Her brain settled on a thought that it could have something to do with its arms, which were comprised of encyclopedias.

Rainbow was spun around by a figure, which grabbed firmly on her hand and dipped her down, placing the pages of the book that she could only guess made up its lips directly on hers. “Gross!” she snarled, wiping her lips.

The book tilted its head and spun her to the edge of the room where she was lifted up and thrown to the other side like a football, then spun back out to the figure.

“Was that necessary?”

The book opened up it’s hand and flipped to a page, stopping at one and holding it out. It aimed its other hand to a certain word.

Rainbow squinted.

Yes.

Rainbow shook her head, at which point she was spun back around.

And so, for the next several minutes, both girls found themselves spun around, twirled, and swayed all across the room. The outer edges of the room were comprised entirely of similar figures who clapped along—an action that was done by repeatedly opening and slamming their book-hands shut—to what the two could only imagine was a piece of music that they were incapable of hearing.

Then, as suddenly as it had all began, the books ceased all movement. One-by-one, each book floated up and placed itself on a shelf. Within a minute, the library looked exactly like it did when they arrived—save for a piece of paper that floated down and landed in front of them. Sunset picked it up and gestured for Rainbow, who walked over to her side.

Thank you.

Both girls looked at each other. “A family member maybe?” Sunset asked, perplexed.

Rainbow shrugged. Once all of the books had returned to the shelves, shook her head and looked at Sunset with deathly serious look on her face. “Can I ask you a little favor?”

“Yes, Rainbow?” Sunset asked, somewhat unnerved by the look on her friends face.

Rainbow rested a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “Never mention this to anyone,” she said. “Nor are you to ever bring this up again.”

Sunset nodded in response.

“Great.” Rainbow looked back out at the room. “Now, I gotta ask: what the hell was that?!”

“I don’t know.” The child was wide-eyed. She rubbed her ghostly eyes and looked over at the two girls, who both had lost any and all color in their faces. “Though I must say, you dance remarkably well, especially considering your partners were stacks of books. Perhaps you should consider joining a dance troupe.”

Rainbow stared in disbelief, shaking her head after a few moments once she realized a bit of drool had begun to drip out of her mouth. “You don’t know!?” she asked. “I-I guess I should’ve asked this first, but where the heck were you while all of this was going on?”

“Behind the wall,” the child said. “I watched the entire thing from there. It was actually quite entertaining.”

Rainbow blushed. She rubbed the back of her head and let out a nervous chuckle. “Well... I think I might know who caused all of this.”

“Do you, now?” The child stepped forward and looked up at Rainbow. “Pray tell: who was the cause of this chaos?”

“Mommy.”

The child shook her head. “It couldn’t have been. Mommy lives in the shadows. Mommy doesn’t like it when you enter her house uninvited. Mommy will defend what is hers,” she said. “Mommy, if she could, would have thrown you out the front door—not have danced with you.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow asked, her voice filled with snark. “Well, I wanna know how she plans on defending it!”

Suddenly, a book flew off the shelf and struck Rainbow in the head.

“Mommy’s willing to give another demonstration if you’d like.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow and turned around to walk out of the library.

“Uh, Rainbow?” Sunset asked, which caused her friend to stop mid-stride. “Where are you going?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and walked back over to Sunset. “I don’t want to tempt her and have her throw something heavier,” she whispered. “So let’s just go before one of us gets a concussion because Mommy felt the need to educate us in the ways of her early twentieth century English and throw a dictionary at our heads.”

“I can still hear you two, and so can Mommy,” the child said. “She says if you leave the room now, she won’t throw anything else for the rest of the time you’re here.”

Rainbow wasted no time and ran out of the room, Sunset trailing behind her. Both girls stopped in the middle of the hallway, out of breath, but thankfully not out of time.

“Think Mommy will keep her promise?” Rainbow asked.

“If she doesn’t, you can always call her out on it,” Sunset answered.

Rainbow chuckled and rested a hand on her friends shoulder. “Sunset, I’m gonna be totally honest with you.” She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Ain’t no damn way I’m calling Mommy out on anything. Period.”

“Fair enough,” Sunset said. “So, where to next?”

Rainbow pointed one hand at a nearby door and another at one that was a few doors down. “Eenie, meenie, mi-” She walked towards the nearest one. “This one.” She opened it and poked her head inside. “Wow, uh, Sunset? C’mere.”

Sunset walked up to Rainbow’s side. From it, she could see that her friend was visibly surprised by something. Whether or not that was a good thing or a horrible thing, she couldn’t tell. Though, knowing Rainbow, it could potentially be both. “What is it?”

Rainbow stepped aside. “See for yourself.”

Sunset poked her head into the room. Within it were an assortment of horse toys, horse models, horse posters, horse books, horse movies, and other horse things; which caused her to blush.

A lot.

A whole damn lot.

“This is my Cousin Bucephalus’ room,” the child said, poking her head out from the ceiling. “He was a big fan of horses, as you can see. Ironically, his favorite horse trampled him to death.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow slowly backed out of the room and looked at Sunset. She snickered and kneeled down, tilting her head up so she was looking up at her friend. “I take it that you-”

Sunset put a hand over Rainbow’s mouth and glared daggers at her. “Never speak of this again.”

Rainbow nodded.

“Pinkie promise?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and nodded, making the motions for the promise.

“Great.” Sunset removed her hand from over Rainbow’s mouth. “Now, to that other room?”

Rainbow nodded once more and stood back up. “So, uh, having fun so far?”

“I’m not talking about the memories of-”

“No, Sunset, I’m being serious,” Rainbow deadpanned. “Are you having fun? I mean, we’re in a house full of ghosts! That’s awesome!”

“Oh.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head and let out a sheepish chuckle. “I, uh, guess I am.” She walked up to the door and rested up beside it. “I mean, it’s not something that I thought I’d ever do in my life. Then again, I never thought I’d go through a mirror and into another dimension.”

“At least you didn’t bring Twilight,” Rainbow said. “She’d probably be trying to figure out a way to capture one like in that movie. The one with that ghost that looks like a big booger.” Rainbow silently cursed herself for forgetting such an important detail, especially when in an actual haunted house. With a sigh, she took out her flashlight and flicked it on before opening the door. The bedroom was decrepit, smelled horrible, and the sound of scuttling cockroaches filled the air. At the center of it all was a small bed that was supported by poles that looked no stronger than toothpicks. “Bet you won’t jump onto the bed.”

Sunset looked inside. “Of course I won’t!” she said, absolutely baffled at that the bed was still standing after all these years. “That thing looks like it’s barely capable of holding a child’s weight.”

“That was Mommy’s bed.” The child walked into the bedroom and turned to face the girls.

“Your mom slept on that?” Rainbow asked, surprised.

“It was what Daddy gave Mommy to sleep on.”

Sunset’s eyes were glued to the bed. She was both saddened and in shock that there was nothing that surrounded it. Somehow, Mommy was given less than what the child had within her room. “So, I take it that the room downstairs wasn’t Mommy’s room?”

The child clenched her fist and remained silent for nearly a minute until she finally said, “No… it wasn’t.”

“Well, if I may ask: where’s Daddy now?” Rainbow asked.

“Behind you.”

Before either girl could react, they were lifted up by their collars and turned around before being thrown out of the room and into the wall on the other side of the hall.

“Oh... okay.” Rainbow groaned and rolled over. “I see Daddy’s as big of a bitch as Mommy.”

The mattress flew out of the room and landed atop of Rainbow, after which the door slammed shut.

“Correction: a bigger bitch.”

“Do you want Daddy to throw something else out?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow groaned. “No...” She pushed the mattress off of herself and stood up, her bones popping satisfyingly back into place. “Still, what’s his deal?”

“Daddy feels guilty.” The child walked through the door and stood before the two girls. “Daddy wishes he had never fallen for Other Mommy. He hates her, and she basks in it. His sorrow is her delight.”

“What does Daddy feel sorrow for?” Sunset asked. “Is it for what he did to Mommy?”

“Yes.” The child turned her back to the two girls and stared at the door. “Daddy is guilty of many things, but he never deserved what he got here. He never meant for any of this to happen. He just... fell under her spell. She was a succubus. But he refuses to listen to me. He believes this is what he deserves.”

“Well, what’s he guilty of?” Rainbow asked. “Did he kill someone?”

The child’s head spun around, her body staying unturned and her eyes ablaze with fury. “Never speak of Daddy like that again!” she growled. “Daddy is not a killer! Daddy was a good man before she came along!”

The color from Rainbow’s face drained in an instant. “Y-Yes, sport...”

“Good.” The child’s head spun back around. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go... make sure that Mommy is okay.” With that, she walked down the hallway and vanished.

“Leeet’s go somewhere else,” Rainbow suggested.

“Agreed.” Sunset stood up and brushed herself off. She followed Rainbow closely, admiring a few paintings that adorned the walls. Each painting was of what she assumed had been an owner of the mansion in the past; the figures described in the portraits looked like they were royalty, all having some sort of jeweled crown and jewelry that would make even Rarity complain that it was too much.

“All this money and they couldn’t afford a carpet,” Rainbow remarked. “Wonder what Daddy spent the money on.”

“Well, if that room downstairs is anything to go by, he must’ve spent it on Other Mommy’s perfume stockpile.” Sunset shuddered. “I can still smell it...”

“No kidding,” Rainbow replied. “I think Other Mommy wanted to make some sort of chemical weapons factory here.” Rainbow stopped and tapped her chin. “Maybe that’s what killed them all.”

The child poked her head out from the floorboard, causing Rainbow to jump back in surprise. “No, it wasn’t.”

“Are you following us?” Sunset asked, slightly unnerved at the child’s potential antics.

“Maybe.” The child ducked down and popped back up behind them. “Hm. I see London, I see France, I see someone’s underpants.”

Sunset and Rainbow’s faces lit up like fireworks made of tomatoes on the Fourth of July. They spun around in time to see the child duck back down into the floorboard, giggling all the while.

“My... my underpants aren’t showing, right?” Sunset asked. She pulled her pants up before covering her face with her hands. “I-I made sure to wear a belt and everything!”

Rainbow mimicked her friends actions. “I... I don’t think so. I didn’t check!” She rubbed her temples and walked over to a nearby door, opening it and walking in.

Sunset walked over to a nearby wall and slid down it. Ugh. I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but... geez.

“Hey, Sunset!”

Sunset looked over to the open door to her left and stood up. “What is it Rain-”

Sunset stopped at the doorway, her mouth agape. “Rainbow... why are you wearing a sweater?” she asked. Although she wasn’t quite the prude that Rarity could be, she had to be honest with herself.

Rainbow couldn’t quite pull off the look in a knitted sweater.

“I found it in the drawer!” Rainbow turned around. The sweater had snowflakes on the front of its blue fabric. “Whatcha think? Pretty neat, huh?”

“I think that you look silly,” Sunset deadpanned. “Kinda like when Rarity decided to have you wear a ballerina outfit.”

Woosh.

Rainbow found herself with only a bra on her torso. The sweater, meanwhile, vanished into the corner of the room.

“Glad Mommy agrees.”

Rainbow’s face lit up a bright red. “Not funny!”

A faint giggle filled the air.

“Seriously, not funny!”

Woosh!

And thus, Rainbow’s pants vanished.

“I guess Mommy doesn’t like criticism,” Sunset said with a smirk.

“Shut it, Sunset...”

“I will once you answer a simple question for me.” Sunset gestured to Rainbow’s panties. “Daring Do, huh? Figured someone like you would be too cool for underwear with a print on it.”

Rainbow’s face bordered on becoming a tomato. “I-It… it was a gift…” She shuffled back towards the shadows and leaned into them. “Can I have my clothes back now?!”

Rainbow’s shirt was thrown onto her face.

“And my pants?”

The sweater was thrown out.

“My. Pants.”

Sunset broke down and fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. “Rainbow, I don’t think Mommy is going to give you back your pants after you mocked her sweater.”

“Gimme my pants before I burn your sweater!”

Rainbow’s pants were thrown onto the floor.

Then caught fire.

“Those were one-of-a-kind…”

Then, another pair of her pants were thrown on top of the sweater.

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Rainbow grabbed her pants and got dressed. Once she was done, she put the sweater away and walked up to Sunset. “You owe me a new pair of pants.” With that, she walked past her and out into the hallway. “Okay, now, where were we?”

“I think we were going to that room at the end of the hallway,” Sunset said as she exited the bedroom. “Because you thought Mommy was down there.”

“Right.” Rainbow followed Sunset closely behind and continued on down the hall. “So, is it me, or does this place really feel like it repeats itself?”

“What do you mean?” Sunset looked at Rainbow quizzically.

“It just feels like every floor is the same narrow, boring hallway.” Rainbow walked over to a nearby door and turned to Sunset. “Here, watch. I guarantee you this will be another decrepit, bland bedroom with a mattress for a bed and enough cobwebs to make abstract art out of.” She placed a hand on the doorknob and slammed her body into the door, breaking it down. Looking around, she saw exactly as she’d described. Well, save for the rotting raccoon corpse on the mattress. “See?! How many bedrooms does this place have!?” Rainbow grabbed her hair. “I thought this was a mansion, not a hotel!”

“Mommy built the extra rooms because she wanted to open up a bed and breakfast,” the child said. “Then she died.”

The two girls stopped and turned to face the child, who rested against the wall. “Do you appear every time we have a question?” Rainbow asked.

“I appear whenever I damn well please, you prismatic weirdo.”

“Hey, don’t call me that!” Rainbow snapped. “I’ll have you know that my name is Rainbow Dash! I’m the best sports player in all of Canterlot High!”

“That’s nice.” The child walked through the wall.

Rainbow stared, dumbfounded. “She just… but I…”

“Aw, don’t worry Rainbow.” Sunset put her hand on her friends back and patted her gently. “I’m sure she cares deep down.”

The child poked her head out of the wall. “No, I don’t.”

Rainbow let out a sigh of disappointment, only to raise her head and ask Sunset, “What’s ‘prismatic’ mean?”

“A variety of colors, Rainbow.”

“Oh.” Rainbow stared at the wall. “Well, Rainbow’s a cooler name, sport.”

The child poked her head back out of the wall. “No, it isn’t.”

Rainbow facepalmed and walked out of the room. “Ugh... that kid...” She looked around and saw two doors opposite each other not too far up the hallway.

Sunset stepped outside and looked where her friend was looking. “You check the bedroom, I’ll check what I’m gonna guess is a closet,” she said to which Rainbow nodded and walked away. “Alright, let’s see what’s waiting for me in here.” Sunset opened the door and stepped inside. To her surprise, the closet was much bigger than any previous one she’d seen. She took her flashlight out and flicked it on.

Immediately, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

A sea of cockroaches scuttled in every direction, giving the appearance of the very floor itself shifting. Beneath her, she could feel dozens of little legs move over her shoes, and some up her leg. A sizable portion of the sea of insects that had been ahead of her mere seconds ago had now surrounded her.

“Ahh!”

Sunset dropped her flashlight, which landed atop several of the insects and resulted in a sickening, stomach churning crunch. She swiped at her legs, throwing a few of the insects off and resulting in more than one unwanted feeling of a cockroach crawling on her hand.

“Get off of me you ugly things!”

From within the bedroom, Sunset could hear Rainbow burst out laughing.

“Not funny, Rainbow!”

“Says the one who laughed at me getting my clothes taken by a ghost?”

Sunset grit her teeth. Fine, I’ll get rid of you freaks the hard way… She took a deep breath and ran over the hundreds of little roaches that littered the floor. An endless series of crunching sounds came from beneath her until she stopped and grabbed her flashlight. “Ah-hah!” she exclaimed.

Rainbow poked her head out from the doorway. “Umm, Sunset.”

Sunset turned her head to Rainbow. “What?”

“You, uh, realize that they’re now all over your arm, right?”

Sunset slowly turned her head towards her arm. Sure enough, her arm had now become the home of at least seven little roaches, each of which seemed rather content with the warmth of her clothes. That, or they were lost. Regardless, Sunset did as she only could.

She screamed.

Loudly.

Then ran.

A lot.

Sunset ran around in circles, swatting at her arms, legs, chest, and just about every place that wasn’t her face. The endless series of crunching sounds that came from beneath her was rivaled only by the absurdly high octave of her voice had somehow managed to reach.

Despite all of that, Rainbow felt not a single iota of pity. Rather, she found herself watching in glee. “Not so fun when you’re on the receiving end, is it, Sunset?”

“Get them off of me!”

“No.” Rainbow stifled a laugh as she watched a few of the roaches crawl through the opening of Sunset’s shirt and down her into her bra. “I’ll leave you be for now,” Rainbow said as she walked back into the bedroom, having given in to her laughter. Outside, she could hear Sunset scream about a roach on her tit.

For Sunset, it took her several more minutes to get the last of the roaches off of her, and out of… certain areas. Once she had, she stormed inside. Her eye twitched as she stared at Rainbow, who was on the floor, still doubled over in laughter.

“Hello, Sunshine,” Rainbow remarked.

Sunset raised a hand and flipped Rainbow off.

“I’d feel hurt if it wasn’t for the fact that you have a friend in your hair. Whatcha name him?”

Sunset wildly swiped at her hair until the one, lonesome roach fell down to the ground. She raised a foot and slammed it down onto the poor insect, crushing it.

“Now was that very-”

“Quiet, Rainbow!” Sunset’s eyes darted around the room until they landed on a few boxes that lay in the corner. She ran over to them and then ran over to a nearby closet, resting them against it.

“Uh... Sunset?” Rainbow asked, baffled by her friends sudden goal to barricade a closet that neither of them had so much as gone near. “What in the world are you doing?”

“Making sure-” Sunset grabbed a box and put it near the closet- “that no cockroaches get near me!”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

“NO!” Sunset went to place a box atop another, only to have the door blow open.

“Mommy says that you aren’t allowed to touch her holiday decorations,” the child said. “Now she wants you to pick them up.”

Sunset looked over at the child, dazed. “Tell Mommy to go suck an egg!”

A dark mass appeared around Sunset. Before she could scream, she was pulled out of the room, and the door slammed shut behind them.

“Oh, that’s not good, is it?” Rainbow asked.

“Depends on who you ask,” the child replied.

Then screams filled the air.

Rainbow cringed. “Yeah, that’s not good.”

“That it is not.” The child turned to Rainbow and looked up at her. “Knowing Mommy, this might take a bit.”

“Can I help her? At all?”

“No. You can’t even get in.”

Rainbow let out a sigh and walked over to the bed. She flopped onto it and said, “Wake me up when she’s done.” With that, she shut her eyes.

---

“Ugh...”

“What’s wrong?” the child asked with a smug grin. “Can’t get to sleep?”

“No, I just... I hate hearing my friends in pain.” Rainbow sat up and rubbed her head. “It makes me... emotional.”

“You mean sad?”

Rainbow’s eyes shot open. “No! No... it does not.”

“Sure it doesn’t,” the child replied. With that, the screams from outside ceased, and a deafening silence filled the air. “Well, I guess that’s your cue. Don’t worry though, she wasn’t actually hurt.”

“Then what was with all the screaming?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“Mommy likes to make people scream a lot when they annoy her. So she likes to jump out at them like a jack-in-the-box.” The child look over at the door and frowned. “Though… Now that I think about it, she’s never gone on for this long.”

“Is it Other Mommy?”

“I saw her. It was Mommy. Although… she’d never go on for this long. And she never screams this much.” The child looked back at Rainbow. “I think you should go comfort your friend. She’ll need it. Whatever Mommy’s done, it isn’t right. She… oh no.” With that, the child ducked down into the floorboards.

Rainbow got off the bed and ran over to the door, which she opened. Opposite her was Sunset. Her hair was a disaster, and her eyes were red, although one thing in particular stuck out to her, and it was something that she found... difficult to miss. “Sunset? Why... why are you sucking your thumb?”

Sunset shakily removed her thumb from her mouth and pulled Rainbow down beside her, wrapping her arms around her and holding on as if her life depended on it. “S-She... she... she turned into things that I didn’t think c-could even exist in... Equestria.” Her breathing was inconsistent, short, and as shaky as the rest of her body. She turned her head to Rainbow; her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “Please... hold me...”

Rainbow wrapped her arms around Sunset. “Shh... calm down,” she said in a soft voice. Whatever ‘Mommy’ had done, she had seriously traumatized Sunset. She shook like she’d been out in the cold without any layers to keep her warm. She kept mumbling incoherently, and try as she may, Rainbow couldn’t make heads or tails of a single word she said. “Look, how about we go...” Rainbow scanned the hallway for something, anything, that may prove to be a decent enough diversion to take her friends mind off of what had just happened.

Sunset stopped moving and let out a shaky sigh. “I...” She gulped and wiped her eyes. “I saw her. She was a... a banshee. Her eyes were... they weren’t eyes. Her hair was on fire.”

Rainbow turned her head and tilted it. “’scuse me?”

“She… she...” Sunset burst into tears. She buried her face into Rainbow’s shoulder. She felt her friend’s embrace become tighter. The warmth of her breath struck her neck. A gentle “shh,” filled the air.

“Don’t worry, Sunset,” Rainbow said as the child’s words echoed within her head. “Nothing is going to hurt you. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Sunset looked up at Rainbow and gave a faint smile. “Thank you, Rainbow.” She tightened her hold on Rainbow and let out a peaceful sigh. “You’re the best...”

“I know.” Rainbow agreed playfully, getting a small laugh out of Sunset.

Silence filled the air for a while as Sunset hugged Rainbow, seemingly content with where she was. Not that Rainbow had any problem with it. She ran a hand through her friends hair and smiled warmly.

“Um, I apologize for interrupting,” a voice said from beside Rainbow. “But... I, uh, wish to speak with you two.”

Rainbow turned her head, while Sunset raised hers from her friend’s shoulder. “What is it, sport?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s about Mommy,” the child answered. “She, uh, wants to apologize to Sunset. She... she said that Other Mommy did something to her that made her... lose control of her body.” She sat down beside Rainbow and let out a sigh. “Mommy’s been at Other Mommy’s mercy ever since she died. She’s not been the same. She isn’t the Mommy that I knew when I was alive. She’s... so cruel to those who enter. I understand she’s protective of her home, but... what she did to Sunset wasn’t her. She was under the control of the bitch that I had to call my mother for so many years.”

“How did your step mom possess your birth mother?” Sunset asked in confusion.

The child turned her head to Sunset. “Other Mommy is evil. Other Mommy returned from a place of raging fire. Other Mommy says that we will end up there too if she is sent back.” She let out a shaky sigh and looked to the doorway. “Other Mommy says you’ll join us soon enough…”

Rainbow felt her heart rate increase dramatically. The air around her became significantly warmer, causing her to break out in a sweat—as if she’d just run an Olympic marathon in the middle of a desert that was on fire.

“Uhh... Rainbow?” Sunset asked. “I don’t think you should have taunted the demon.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow stood up and wiped away the sweat from her forehead, which was quickly replaced by more sweat. “Well I’m, uh, not sorry ‘Other Mommy’.”

Rainbow was thrown down the hallway.

“Okay, I see that you mean business,” Rainbow groaned as she stood up.

Sunset could hear the clacking of heels pass by her, along with the strong, putrid odor of sulfur. She looked down the hallway just in time to see Rainbow get flung back to her side. “Regret taunting the-”

“Not now, Sunseeeee-”

Rainbow was thrown back down the hallway.

“Stop-”

And again.

“Fucking-”

And again.

“Throwing-”

And again.

“Me!”

It wasn’t until five minutes had past that Rainbow finally found peace when the vile odor suddenly vanished and she wasn’t hurled back to Sunset’s side. She stood up and tried to stumble back over to Sunset with enough bruises on her body to play connect-the-bruise, and create a fair number of constellations on each of her limbs.

Sunset ran over and held out a hand to Rainbow. “You want some help?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Rainbow grabbed firmly onto Sunset’s hand and stood up. “Oh, man, she’s strong...”

“She’s worse when she’s actually manifested,” the child said from the doorway. “The things she has done to us is horrible to even think about.”

“Even you?” Sunset asked, simultaneously surprised and saddened.

“I did say ‘all of us’, Sunshine.”

“Well, uh... I’m sorry,” Sunset replied. “We’ll do whatever we can to help you.”

The child was now staring blankly at Sunset, before erupting in a fit of laughing after several seconds. “You? Help me?”

“What’s so funny?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah! We’ve taken on demons before!” Rainbow added.

“You two have no idea what you’re upset against here,” the child said. “Whatever demons you’ve gone up against are no match from someone who’s very essence was created with the fires of the domain where they now reside.”

“Your step mother was crafted in Hell?” Sunset asked.

“Well, I’ve come to believe it, considering she has a thing for throwing me against her bedroom walls.”

“You’re a ghost,” Rainbow deadpanned. “How can you-”

The child shushed Rainbow and raised a finger to her mouth. “Don’t let her hear you and she won’t realize it doesn’t hurt me as much as she thinks it does!”

“How would she hear you?” Rainbow asked.

“Other Mommy has really good hearing,” the child said. “Other Mommy can even hear when Cousin Larry uses the ghostly bathroom after he eats his spicy burrito.” The child paused. “Actually, bad example; everyone in the house can hear that.”

“Okay, too much information!” Sunset said, waving her hands around. “Can you, uh, just tell us why we’re incapable of helping you?”

The child looked at the two girls before letting out a long sigh. “I can feel the power that resonates from both of you. You have a better chance than anyone who’s ever stepped foot in here to purge her from this world,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you can. Even in the short amount of time you’ve been here, you two are the closest to older siblings I’ve ever had. You made me laugh when I watched you bicker. I don’t want to lose you like I lost my mommy and daddy.” The child walked up to both girls and looked up at them pleadingly. “Please, just leave before she finds out the sort of power that you two hold. If she does, she will stop at nothing to make you hers.”

“Sorry, sport, but we’re not leaving until we help you. It’s what we do best.” Rainbow turned her head to Sunset. “Isn’t that right?”

Sunset turned her head and nodded. “Exactly.” She looked down at the girl. “We’ll do whatever it takes to help your family out.”

The child looked down at the floor and went dead silent for several seconds. Eventually, she looked back up at the girls. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourselves into...”

Comments

[Armyidiot]

Luigi's Mansion or Fatal Frame?

[Vertigo22]

8697471 Luigi's Frame.

[Armyidiot]

8697473
Ah, nice choice. Mind if I ask which inspired this story more?

[LEGION55]

.....I like it. Also tracking

[Vertigo22]

8697474 Oh, which inspired it? Neither, this was more so the result of me wanting to write something serious... and it sort developed into what this is. If I had to answer that though, this would be significantly closer to Luigi's Mansion.

[Armyidiot]

8697476
Cool. I'll make sure to read this.

[LEGION55]

Ps Rainbow didn't insult the sweater Sunset did.

[James Fire]

And this is why Vertigo has no friends.

[Rock-Mint-Swirl]

That was interesting and very funny. Into tracking you go! ~ Mintstar

[Bookwurm666]

“Other Mommy has really good hearing,” the child said. “Other Mommy can even hear when Cousin Larry uses the ghostly bathroom after he eats his spicy burrito.” The child paused. “Actually, bad example; everyone in the house can hear that.”

euuwww