• Published 28th Oct 2018
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The Palace of Death - thehalfelf



Nightmare Night has come again. Who better to help Princess Luna in her yearly haunt than Death herself?

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The Palace of Death

The Palace of Death

A crisp wind blew through the Everfree Forest, shaking the paper orbs lighting the path. Two foals gasp and freeze, forcing the whole group to stop, again. Miss Twilight turned and smiled, using a burst of magic to halt the swaying of the light. “Come on, it’s not far now.”

“Let us charge ahead,” shouted Pipsqueak, bounding up to Twilight’s side. The visor on his night costume flopped shut, making him push it up. “Remember, Princess Luna is a big trickster, so don’t be fooled. Anything could be a trick, we must remain vigilant to earn our sweets!”

Some of the gathered foals laughed, but they all started moving down the dirt path through the Everfree Forest again. Pipsqueak walked in front, next to Twilight, as their small group begun to climb the final hill. Just ahead, the spires of the Old Castle poked above the trees.

Almost every foal in Ponyville was walking with them. Princess Luna’s Nightmare Night appearances were almost a set piece in town now, as was her yearly candy haul for the foals.

They just had to make it through her scare first.

This year, Luna had left soon after the opening speech by Mayor Mare, but not before pointing to a witch-hatted Twilight Sparkle and extending an invitation for “any who dared” to join her in the Old Castle just before midnight.

Twilight paused once again at the top of the hill. Just before them stretched a rope bridge, the castle just beyond. “Okay, is everypony ready?”

A resounding but hesitant cheer answered her. Twilight smiled and moved towards the bridge.

“Let’s get into a single line here. This is an old bridge, but don’t worry. If anypony falls, I’ll catch you.”

The foals did as they were told, falling into line ahead of their guide. Two of them had already stepped out onto the rickety bridge when a rustle in the trees behind pulled Pipsqueak’s attention away.

“Miss Twilight, look out!”

Several ponies turned back at his shout, just in time to see Twilight’s shocked face as a black-handled scythe held by a hoof of bone burst from the bush. It caught against her barrel, trailing a thin line of red through her costume before yanking her back into the bush.

“Run! To the castle!” she shouted before being engulfed by dark leaves.

Somepony screamed, kicking off a mad dash across the rope bridge. It creaked and swayed, barely audible over the thundering of hooves over it. Not a one looked back, not until they’d slipped through the thick wooden doors and into the castle walls.

“Greetings, little ponies,” a deep voice boomed over the courtyard. One of the fillies in the group whimpered. “If you have come for my hoard of candy, turn back now. Only those brave and smart enough can even hope to attempt to lay claim to my horde.”

The foals jumped again as the large wooden door behind them creaked open, revealing the bridge and chasm again. “Any who would not attempt this task, leave now. I shall guarantee you safe passage home.”

Several foals left immediately, skirting the bush where Twilight vanished as wide as possible. Slowly, their group trickled down until just Pipsqueak, Scootaloo, and Featherweight were left. The latter lifted his camera and snapped a picture of the castle’s highest restored tower.

“Very well!” the voice boomed, punctuated by the slamming of the main gate. In the echoes, the door into the castle proper squeaked open. “Enter, if you dare.”

Featherweight quickly loaded another shot into his camera and snapped a picture of the door’s yawning portal before striding in. Pipsqueak and Scootaloo shared a look before following close behind.

“This is much more than last year,” he said, taking in the barely candle-lit interior. “Hey, do you really think that Twilight... y’know.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No way. The Princess wouldn’t hurt one of her friends. It’s just another spook, like that test of courage thing a couple of years ago.”

The trio slowly walked down the entry hall, sticking as best they could to the circles of light provided by candles made of black wax. The only other sound in the hall was the slow sizzle and drip of wax falling and cooling on the floor. A cold wind blew through the hall as they approached the door at the far end.

Following the pattern, the entry hall door closed behind when Pipsqueak, taking up the rear, passed through. “There it is!” Scootaloo shouted, pointing a hoof towards a large black cage, barely containing their prize: several pillow cases overflowing with sweets. Three almost comically sized locks sealed the door shut, though that didn’t stop Scootaloo from walking up and violently shaking it. “Well, what now?”

“Perhaps we are meant to continue our quest?” Pipsqueak pointed towards the only open exit in the room, or more accurately, a small crack in the adjoining wall. A dark purple light shone through, too mellow to actually see anything by.

“There’s something down at the end,” Featherweight said, spinning the zoom on his camera. “Something shiny, but...”

Scootaloo stuck one hoof into the foal-sized crack and quickly yanked it back. “Yuck! There’s some sort of... something on the floor.”

Pipsqueak dropped the visor on his helmet and stepped up to the crack. The dark purple glow almost made it harder to see, but he could just barely make up some thin, wiggling things across the floor, walls, and ceiling of the tunnel.

“I’ll go,” he said. “I’ve got my armor, I’ll be safe.”

Scootaloo gently tapped on the edge of Pipsqueak’s chestpiece. “Pips, that’s cardboard.”

“Exactly, it’ll provide much more protection than your Wonderbolt uniform.” Before she could respond, he dropped down onto his barrel and slowly crawled into the tunnel. Quickly, purple became all he could see. His eyes demanded more light, but there was nothing.

Once in the tunnel, a wet heat permeated everything, making his cardboard armor itch and sag under his barrel. Whatever covered the walls and floor scratched against it and his coat where the costume didn’t cover. They stuck briefly, forcing Pipsqueak to half slide, half drag himself through the tunnel.

That was when that skeletal hoof crashed through the ceiling, inches from his face.

He shouted in surprise, freezing up for a moment before headbutting the outstretched hoof..

It recoiled back in shock for a moment before hitting back, knocking the helmet off Pip’s head. It retreated, but the damage was done. Now the things were free to rub against his exposed face.

He shivered as the first thing slapped against his face and slid off, leaving a sticky trail of goo across his muzzle and cheek. Without his face covered, it was easier to see the disgusting tentacles dangling all around. They almost seemed to pulse and wiggle in the light.

Pushing the helmet ahead of him, Pipsqueak struggled on, ignoring the feelers. He was already halfway through, and could make out the back wall. The heat and enclosed space threatened to make him panic, as did the lack of a visible exit. But it would be slower to work his way back out. Besides, the tunnel was too narrow to turn around, he would have to escape backwards.

The thought of the white hoof and scythe made him shiver again.

Now closer, he could make out a black key attached to the far wall of the tunnel, lit from behind by the purple light, and covered in goo. Gritting his eyes shut against the feel of the tunnel’s lining on his muzzle, he quickly grabbed the key in his teeth. There was a click and the sound of grinding stone to his left. Warm light bathed the front of his eyelids and he eagerly crawled forward, not wanting to stay in the tunnel any longer than he already had, and not really wanting to see what else was in there.

As soon as the warmth receded, Pipsqueak scrubbed at his face, trying to clean it as best he could before putting the helmet back on. A normal stone hallway greeted him, lit by the everpresent black candles. The hall stretched in both directions, one way back towards the main hall, the other deeper into the castle.

First, he had to meet up with his friends. A wooden bar held the door shut. He pushed it off to the side, allowing the door to creak open on its own. He strode back into the room, key dangling from his costume.

Click! Featherweight let his camera drop, then moved forward. He took the key from Pipsqueak, placing it in his camera bag. “Where to next?”

“My... key...” A voice, cold as ice, slunk it’s way through the main hallway.

Pipsqueak turned, breath catching in his throat at the sight of a figure in black. A thin scythe, somehow gleaming in the low light, hovered near it’s covered head.

“Away from that thing!” Scootaloo shouted, spinning and taking off down the new hallway. The others followed close behind, not bothering to look back. The door they fled through banged shut, but nopony slowed down. Loud, measured steps trailed behind them, growing fainter and fainter as the trio fled to the other end of the hallway

Scootaloo was the first through to the other room, followed by Pipsqueak. Last in the door, Featherweight spun to snap a picture, but barely managed to yelp before ducking a thrown scythe. Pipsqueak had just enough time to take a good look at all the chairs and small tables, some sort of sitting room, before the scythe arced up, slicing through the candles lighting the room, plunging them into darkness.

“What do we do?” Featherweight whispered. They all flinched as the door to their new room suddenly slammed shut.

Pipsqueak reached out with both forehooves, trying to grab his friends. “I think I saw another door. This way.”

Slowly, they inched their way around the room, avoiding where they thought any furniture might be. That same measured click paced the around the room, accompanied every so often by a loud hiss and the smashing of wood.

“Man, I really hope none of you have to sneeze,” Scootaloo whispered.

They’d made it about halfway across when the room’s other occupant fell silent. Pipsqueak stopped, tugging gently on Scootaloo and Featherweight, and listened. He wasn’t sure if the... thing following them breathed or not, but it wasn’t safe to move if they didn’t know where it was.

Nopony dared to breathe. Pipsqueak was starting to tremble, but he didn’t even dare to try and unclench his muscles. He just knew, any second, this thing was going to show back up and they would have to run again.

“I want my key,” the voice hissed, scratching at his ear. It was right behind him!

Somepony screamed. Later in life, he might even admit it had been him.

It was Featherweight who got them out of that jam. A bright flash blinded the room as he clicked his camera. “Come on!” he shouted, grabbing his dazed friends and bolting to where he thought the door was. He yanked the door open, flooding the sitting room with light, blinding them all again.

Right before Scootaloo slammed the door shut, a glint on the table caught Pipsqueak’s eye: another of the keys.

Then he saw the cloaked pony rising to its hooves between them and the key. Filing their discovery for later, he slammed the door and filed in the last spot in their flight down yet another hallway.

“We gotta lose this thing!” he shouted over the clack of their hooves. “There’s another key in that room!”

“Well, maybe there’s a fourth key,” Scootaloo shouted back from her leading spot. “Right turn!”

They all skidded to the right, then down another fast left, diving into a small cupboard. Being in last, that put him closest to the door. He kept it cracked, just a little, and held his breath.

He’d seen horror movies when his mom wasn’t around, the thing would run past them, they could go get the key, then continue on their--

“Boo.”

A skeletal pony face appeared right in front of him. His hooves slid backward, pushing Featherweight into Scootaloo into whatever else was stored in this room. A loud crash followed, several more screams, and then the skull was gone.

An angry orange pegasus shoved her way to the front, and threw the door open. Pipsqueak cringed back, expecting to find a sharp scythe, but the hallway was empty.

“What was that?” she shouted spinning around to face her comrades.

“Skeleton... pony head... ‘boo’” Pipsqueak stuttered, kicking a bucket off his hoof and slinking his way into the hall.

“I got a picture,” Featherweight added.

With all three back in the hallway, Scootaloo turned and started walking back towards the parlor. “Whatever, fine. So, two keys down, right? Where do you think the last one is?”

“This is a pretty big castle. We only have a couple of hours before we have to get back, right?”

“Do you think the others actually made it back okay?” Pipsqueak muttered. “The forest is dangerous.”

They arrived at the closed door to the sitting room. “The Princess wouldn’t send them back if it wasn’t safe.” Scootaloo said. “I’m glad they’re gone, though, we don’t have to split the candy.”

The three fanned out in front of the door, but nopony moved towards it.

“Do you want to open it?” Featherweight asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Scootaloo spluttered, shoving a hoof towards the knob. “I was just waiting to see if you wanted to, like, take a picture or something.”

Featherweight nodded once, then snapped a quick photo of an unamused Scootaloo as she inched the door open. They walked in, with Pipsqueak making a beeline to the table.

“The key is gone,” he whined, pushing up his visor to get a better look. “That stupid thing must have taken the key.”

“Great, now we have to find two keys.” Scootaloo groaned, then turned towards the door. “Come on, let’s go.” They wandered around for a bit, meandering the few open hallways. Every door they tried seemed to be locked, most hallways lead to dead ends.

Scootaloo lead on, getting more and more frustrated, until they tried just about their tenth locked door. She shouted, then spun and bucked the thick wood. “I can’t take it anymore! Why is everything locked!?”

The two colts shared a look and continued walking.

“H-Hey, wait up!”

“We should probably keep our voices down. I don’t want that thing to come back,” Featherweight said, turning them back down a previously explored hallway. “I don’t think the Princess would make us do something we can’t do.”

“Unless the Princess isn’t part of it,” replied Scootaloo. “After all, we haven’t seen her once. We haven’t seen anypony--”

“Except that thing,” Pipsqueak cut in.

“--since we got in here.”

“Did you think there would be more?”

“Well, no, but...”

Featherweight cut both of them off with a click of his camera. “Hey, look at this,” he said, pointing a hole bored into the stone wall.

“What is it?” Scootaloo asked, spinning back around to look.

“I don’t know, but I think there’s something in there.”

Pipsqueak glanced across the hall to a familiar door. “Have we been here yet?”

Scootaloo shrugged. “I think so, why?”

“This hole wasn’t here before.”

“It is now.”

Featherweight, camera pressed to his eye, took another step towards the hole. “There’s definitely something in there,” he said, pressing a hoof to the wall. “But it’s just too narrow to fit a hoof in. We’ll need something to get it out.”

Behind them, the door clicked open.

“Hmm, I wonder where we’re supposed to go,” Scootaloo said, pushing the door further open. “Uh...”

“What?”

The room seemed to be some sort of laboratory, complete with large metal surgery table. On top of the table was a pony-shaped figure covered by a bloodstained sheet. But what was interesting was the thing poking out from underneath. It was hair, and hard to tell in the dark room, but it almost looked like...

Purple. Purple hair, with a pink streak down the side.

“Oh no,” Scootaloo muttered, stumbling over and falling against the hallway walls. “That can’t.. That’s... S-She...”

After snapping a quick picture from the door, and turning a little green in the process, Featherweight pointed Pipsqueak towards the room, then moved to comfort Scootaloo.

With a deep, shaky breath Pipsqueak stumbled into the laboratory. The room really wasn’t all that big, most of it was filled by the...the table. He shook while trying to squeeze against the walls around the table. On one side was a blood-stained dish full of sharp instruments and other science-y things, the other had a lab coat on a hanger above a row of jars with mystery fluid in them.

Trying to avoid looking too hard at whatever was floating in the yellow fluid, Pipsqueak reached up and plucked the lab coat from it’s hook. The cloth itself was discarded to the ground, but the hanger... He quickly slipped from the room and, bending the hanger with his forehooves, walked towards the hole in the wall.

Somepony pulled the door shut. Scootaloo and Featherweight moved to stand beside him, one more shaken than the other, while Pipsqueak attempted to maneuver the hanger into the hole and pull out whatever was inside.

After a few frustrating minutes, a black key fell from the edge of the hole, landing next to a seated Scootaloo. “Got it.”

The second key clinked into the first in Featherweight’s camera bag. “Now where?”

“Away,” Scootaloo said, rising to her hooves and setting off in a random direction. All of them were happy to leave that room behind. But it couldn’t be Twilight, right? Just like she wasn’t really hurt when she was pulled back into the bush. It had to be the Princess, one of her Nightmare Night tricks.

Right?

They wandered the halls for what felt like hours, until their hooves hurt and their stomachs growled. Tempers were starting to fray, with the endless hallways and locked doors. They passed the door to what they started calling the Body Room several times, though the hole was now gone. Eventually, the castle started leading them up and in, towards the cobweb-filled halls of the second story.

It felt as though everything was filtering them inward, back towards the main room where their caged prize waited. It was getting later and colder; their breath hissed out in small clouds ahead of them. Even the candle fire that lit the halls seemed colder; their light seeming more blue than orange.

A flash of movement around the corner froze the trio in place. A door at the end of the hall opened and out walked the cloaked pony. It shut the door carefully, then set off down the hall - away from the foals. They all held their breath until the sound of scythe on stone faded into silence.

Pipsqueak immediately headed towards the now closed door. The others hurried to catch up. “Hey, what are you doing? Shouldn’t we go the other way?” Featherweight asked.

“Think about it,” Pipsqueak replied, pausing at the corner to make sure the skeleton pony was truly gone. “We saw the key in that sitting room. The skeleton pony was in there after us and really wanted our keys, and when we went back to the room, the key was gone.”

“I don’t think she should be poking around where that thing lives,” Scootaloo whispered as they approached the door.

“You can leave if you want, but I’ve never given up on the Princess’ challenges, and this year isn’t going to be the one. Now hush.” Pipsqueak removed his helmet and pressed an ear up against the door. Assured by silence, he pressed down on the handle and pushed the door open.

The interior looked a lot more unfinished than the rest of the castle. It was pretty obvious where the renovation stopped - a jagged line of dark, moldy stone cut the room practically in two. Most of the furniture was covered in tools and stains, all except for a single nightstand next to a bed of rotting hay. On top of that was the last black iron key.

“There it is,” Pipsqueak said, making a beeline for the nightstand and avoiding so much as even looking at anything else. He picked the key up and turned to leave when the other two rushed inside and quickly, but softly shut the door.

“Hide, it’s coming back!” Featherweight whispered loudly. He dove down into a crevasse between two large stacks of crates, Scootaloo managed to wedge herself underneath a low table, covered by a tablecloth. With not much time left to spare, Pipsqueak had to dig himself into the rotting hay. He held his breath and waited.

Not even a minute later, the door burst open. Pipsqueak couldn’t see much due to his restrictive hiding place, so he strained his ears as much as possible. Bony hooves walked quickly before stopping right in front of him, covering his peep hole with it’s robe. A metallic swish cut the air, followed by metal on wood.

“My key...” the thing hissed, presumably taking another chunk out of the nightstand. The robe swished quickly, revealing white bone legs, before stalking away further into the room.

From his hiding spot, he could just barely see Featherweight between the boxes. The low light of the room glinted off his camera lense, and for a moment, Pipsqueak feared his friend had been discovered, but the monster walked right past, out of his field of view.

Another hiss broke the silence, before slicing the top half off of Pipsqueak’s hiding place. With the key clutched tightly in his teeth, the colt couldn’t scream, but as he watched the plume of his helmet fall, boy did he want to.

Scootaloo burst from under the table, throwing the tablecloth over the cloaked pony and charged into it, knocking them both over. “Run!” she shouted, jumping to her hooves and bolting through the door into the castle hallways.

The other two followed, the trio once again sprinting through unfamiliar stone hallways. They attempted to find the stairs back down, but the turns were so much more unfamiliar at high speed. Plus, the skeleton pony seemed to pop in and out at random, often forcing them out of a hallway they needed to go down.

Eventually, they found themselves taking a couple of steps down, onto the balcony overlooking the main hall. Below they could see the black cage and, practically shining in the candlelight, the locks to their sweet treasure.

“It’s still coming!” Featherweight shouted. Pipsqueak looked around quickly. They were trapped on a little overhang, fenced in on the other side. Their only option was down, but a fall that far would be impossible...

A gentle breeze blew through the main hall, making one of the chandeliers swing. His eyes blankly followed the wobble of the rope up to the ceiling, then down to it’s locking mechanism, right next to his hoof...

“Everypony, jump on!” he shouted, after stashing the final key in the camera case. Scootaloo and Featherweight looked at him blankly for a moment. The former grinned, the color drained from the latter’s face, and they both jumped to the fixture. Sparing a glance back, Pipsqueak jumped on himself, smacking the rope release with a hoof on his way out.

For one glorious moment, he hung suspended from the air. Featherweight’s camera clicked. Then he grabbed onto the chandelier rope and rode the black metal fixture down with his friends. They crashed into the stone floor hard, rolling away as fast as they could. Pipsqueak spared a look back up to the balcony, but the creature was once again gone.

“Do you think we actually got away?” he asked.

“I think we shouldn’t stick around to find out,” Scootaloo replied, slowly rolling to her hooves. “Your camera okay, Featherweight?”

There was a moment of silence while he checked the equipment. “Yeah, I think so. Let’s get that candy and get out of here.”

Slowly, they limped over to the black cage. One by one, with an almost sort of reverence, Featherweight slotted the keys into the locks and turned. On well oiled hinges the cage swung open, at last allowing access to the castle’s treasure. Each foal bit down on a pillowcase and begun the long trek out of the castle, as fast as the heavy haul would allow.

As one they were tired and frazzled, but triumphant. The front door was in sight, victory was just a few short seconds away, when the cloaked skeleton stepped out of an alcove, blocking the door with it’s body and scythe.

The three foals tensed, prepared to drop their prize and bolt, but to their surprise the creature merely nodded, almost imperceptibly, and stepped aside. The front door opened. Wary of a trick, the three never took their eyes off the creature until they were safely past scythe range and back out into the night air.

By the gate leading from the castle stood a grinning Princess Luna, and behind her a sheepish Twilight Sparkle.

“Greetings, little ponies. Did you enjoy this year’s Nightmare Night?” Luna asked, while her purple companion only gave a sheepish smile and wave.

The three foals looked at each other and grinned. “Yeah,” Scootaloo replied, fishing in her pillowcase for candy. Extracting an alicorn-shaped chocolate and peeling off the pink wrapper, she popped it into her mouth. “Besht one yet,” she said.

Featherweight nodded as well, glancing down at his camera, unscathed through their merry misadventure. “Agreed. I have a lot of good material for the school paper too.”

“Another year down, Princess,” Pipsqueak added. “I don’t know how you are going to top this next year, but I can’t wait!”

Luna grinned. “I don’t know yet either, Little Pipsqueak, but I am excited to find out. Now come, let us carry your candy back to town, so that you may enjoy the rest of your night.”

The three sacks of candy floated up in a purple magical aura. “I’ll take that,” Twilight said. “You’ve made these poor foals suffer enough for one night, I won’t stand by and let you eat their earnings.”

The Princess pretended to pout, but opened the main gate anyway. “Very well. Shall we?”

Before the first of their procession could step onto the now markedly less rickety looking bridge, Pipsqueak spoke up. “Just one thing, Princess,” he said. Seeing a nod from the alicorn, he continued, “Who was the skeleton pony? I want to thank them too.”

Twilight and Luna stopped, passing a look between them. “Skeleton pony?” Twilight said, “I don’t remember hiring a skeleton pony.”

“Neither do I,” said the Princess.

As one, the three foals whipped their heads back towards the castle door, half expecting a scythe to hurtle forth at them once again, but the doors were already closed.

“Something wrong?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.

“N-Nope!” Scootaloo said, pushing her way towards the front. “Come on, let’s go. I-I want to inspect my haul.”

Author's Note:

Happy Nightmare Night