The House on the Hill

by BradyBunch

The Spirit

Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow went up the dark stairs one step at a time. It was quiet, save for the breathing through their noses and creak of both the steps beneath them and the lanterns in their hooves. Once they reached the top floor, they began to examine the level. It was a square space with two doorways on the left and right. Four silent, empty suits of armor guarded the doors. It gave Fluttershy a small startle, but she recovered quickly.

“Well?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Where’s the bedroom?”

“In a house like this, it would be in a tower,” Twilight answered. “And I remember seeing one to the far right as we came in. Follow me.”

“Ah ain’t ever livin’ in no tower,” Applejack insisted in a whisper. “I remember hearin’ a story ‘bout a princess forced to live in one her entire life!” She shuddered, then stopped briefly to think. “Come ta think of it, that’s jus’ Twilight, isn’t it?”

“Hardy-har har,” Twilight deadpanned as they entered a small research laboratory, its various instruments, papers, and tables shoved to the side and caked in dust.

“Raponezel?” Rainbow Dash asked of Applejack. “Huh. You always struck me as more of a Goldilocks kind of pony.”

Applejack absently fondled the long, braided blonde mane over her shoulder as they walked quickly through. “Just ‘cause o’ this?”

“Nope,” Rainbow replied nonchalantly as they entered an art gallery, filled with even more paintings of nature on the walls and even a replica of a Marechaelangelo statue in the corner. “Because you eat porridge all the time, and everything always ‘Has ta be jus’ right!’ with you around.”

“It’s almos’ scary, how similar that imitation was. You sounded just like me.”

“So… you don’t deny it?”

“Who wouldn’t take pride in doin’ everything jus’ right? Better’n the job you do, anyways.”

They came to an empty, charred room, scorched and blasted by fire. Black and rotting wood made up the floorboards, so every step taken was accompanied by a perilous creak. Applejack and Rainbow ceased their bickering almost immediately.

“What happened here?” Fluttershy whispered, sticking close to Twilight as they quickly crossed.

“These burns look like magical marks,” Twilight observed. “This must have been the work of a powerful unicorn testing something. Remember the research laboratory a little bit back?”

“But what was he trying to figure out?” Fluttershy whispered in return.

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “But that’s what we’re here to find out.”

Past the charred room was a spiraling stone staircase. They climbed up with little trouble and came to the top floor.

There was little doubt that it was a tower; the ceiling was a hollow cone supported by buttresses, and there were windows in the four cardinal directions. It was very cluttered, full of boxes, papers, and tables. A closet was to their left, and in the far corner was the lumpy bed. Twilight’s intuition was right.

“Spread out,” Twilight ordered. “Find anything interesting.”

Fluttershy went to investigate the closet and Rainbow and Applejack started perusing the desks and boxes, leaving Twilight to approach the bed. With every step, she tried to prepare herself for what she could find. What on earth was going on?

When she reached the bed, and used her hoof to peel back the filthy sheets, her heart momentarily stopped; there was a decomposing unicorn skeleton inside, bony mouth gaping wide open in a scream that echoed throughout the tower.

But the scream had come from Fluttershy, who zipped out of the closet and clung fiercely to Rainbow Dash’s leg, quivering like a spring with eyes wider than china plates.

“What in tarna-” Applejack started, then saw what was inside the closet and gasped.

Twilight positioned herself so she could see inside the closet, and her heart stopped a second time.

A chalk circle was drawn upon the ground, and inside was a five-pointed pentacle. The remnants of a drawn and quartered earth pony were positioned to align with the star’s sides. There was still a remnant of rotten flesh inside its stomach cavity beneath the ribs. On the pony’s skull was a molded wax candle. It was burning without consuming any wick. In its eye sockets were two flawless rubies. To the side was a brown-stained knife and open tome. The entire closet floor was stained with ancient blood.

“Holy…” Rainbow started, then swallowed something and began to breathe through her mouth.

Twilight, though horrified, drew closer for inspection. She tried using her magic, but upon remembering it was blocked, sighed, came to the drawn sigil, and hurriedly picked up the tome. The book’s pages were stained brown and sealed together with old blood, but Twilight felt that this was a major clue to figuring out the mystery of the house.

“How could you just-” Applejack started, then let out a disgusted sound.

“Well, the body’s not going anywhere,” Rainbow remarked.

Twilight set the bloody book on an overturned bedside table, and Applejack held up a lantern for her to see the faint words inside.

“What’s it say?” Rainbow asked, coming beside Twilight to peer at the artifact.

“This is a special kind of magic,” Twilight told them lowly. “Tampering with spirits, life and death, and time. Whoever was living here was attempting a ritual to postpone his death.” She gestured back at the open closet. “That’s what the body was for. If you want more life, you must take it from another.”

“Everypony’s got a few skeletons in their closet, but this is on another level,” Applejack remarked.

“Well, who was the pony attempting this ritual?” Rainbow demanded.

“I think… whoever was in that bed,” Twilight theorized, pointing at the sticky, filthy old bed. “Who performs a black ritual in another person’s closet?”

“Well, obviously, it didn’t work,” Applejack stated.

“Not necessarily,” Twilight refuted. “Perhaps… he was just dissatisfied with his methods, and wanted a more permanent solution. Instead of tying his spirit to his body, perhaps he did another ritual, and preserved his spirit… somewhere...” Twilight halted in her tracks and took a frantic look around.

Fluttershy was the first to grasp it, and shrunk into herself in fear. “You mean… The entire house?”

“No way!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Is that even possible?” Applejack wondered. “Ah don’ know much ‘bout magic.”

“He must have found a way,” Twilight insisted. “How else could the house behave the way it does?”

“But how do we destroy a spirit without a body?” Fluttershy whispered, casting her eyes in every corner of the tower.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rainbow answered. “We destroy the house.”

---

Rarity’s legs wobbled in place. Her head spun. She felt like fainting, but there wasn’t a couch nearby.

“Why, um…” she stammered out, unable to break away from the beady, black eyes encircling him. “H-h-hello, mister spirit. Um, I was on my way out, and I... I’m going to just go-”

“Foolish mare!” the spirit hissed. From the stone floor burst forth iron pipes, twisting into a narrow cage that Rarity cowered inside. “Did you think you could discard me that easily, my little guest?”

“Oh, so this is how you treat a guest?!” Rarity screamed at him. “Like a prisoner?”

“But you are a guest. In my prison. Tell me, my dear, what do you think you see around you?”

“I see only the bars of this cage!” Rarity cried.

“Impressive, isn’t it, how every aspect of this place obeys me? On the brink of death, I tied my life force into my own home to preserve my spirit and prolong my life.”

“So... you’re searching for immortality, then?” Rarity asked with a squeak, helplessly drawn to the rotating wheels spinning around his head.. “It… seems to me like you’ve found it.”

“It is a crude, bodiless immortality. I cannot even leave the rude iron gates. And houses do not last forever. If this were allowed to go on for a few more years, I would have died in a house collapse. But if I could inhabit a body, I would be complete at last. I would be a pony again! And a powerful one, if the right vessel is chosen.” He blinked, and so did all the eyes on the wheels. “An alicorn! I want an immortal alicorn! And you, my sweet, brought one right to me.”

“Twilight,” Rarity breathed.

“Is that her name?” the spirit mused, drifting closer and closer to the caged Rarity. “How dainty.”

“B-but why did you need to separate me and Pinkie if you wanted Twilight?” Rarity stalled, keeping her gaze on the pale face in the fog.

“Well, if I entered Twilight right away, the rest of your friends would destroy her. I need a servant with strong resolution. A will to kill, and deliver me a free body to possess. For over a month, I have called out to Ponyville, searching for a willing servant and a body, but they all lacked resolve to kill, so I disposed of them. Until… you. But you have destroyed the other pony that I planned to possess, so I will have to share with you instead until we kill Twilight. It’s not ideal for either of us, but… consider this your punishment for your sadistic nature.”

Rarity wept miserably. “I would never kill! Pinkie was my friend!”

“Keep telling yourself that. Now hold STILL.”

The cage unraveled, Rarity’s jaws were pried open, and a hoarse scream escaped her mouth. The spirit’s pale face was in front of hers, and each of the wheels of eyes unraveled and slowly slipped in ribbons onto her tongue and slid down her throat. It was like a string of beads, and it triggered her gag reflex.

Then the porcelain face drifted into fog and shot into her mouth as well, but this time, it seeped into the top of her mouth, into her brain, like a disease. It was taking over her functions, leaving no free will of her own...

Rarity collapsed, her throat and mind free at last. A few convulsions passed through her body in ripples, and a low moan passed between her lips.

Then she sat up rigidly. She held her hooves in front of her face. After a few giddy laughs of surprise, Rarity got onto all fours.

“Well, her magic isn’t as strong as I anticipated,” Rarity lamented, a ball of light pulsating on the end of her horn. “But it’ll have to do for now.”

---

“What d’ya mean, blow up th’ house? Ah don’ know how ta say this, but none o’ us exactly have dynamite sticks in our back pockets.”

“Do you have any better suggestions?” Rainbow replied.

“We should save that for after we discover who this pony was,” Twilight interrupted. “Try and search his personal possessions. They could provide insight.”

“I-I’m sure he won’t mind,” Fluttershy said, loud enough for nonexistent ears in the wall to hear.

Twilight and Fluttershy got to searching the bedside tables while Rainbow and Applejack perused through the abandoned boxes, and it only took a moment before Rainbow spoke up. “Found a picture. Kinda dusty, but…” She blew it off, and Fluttershy scrunched up her face and sneezed.

“Lookit that,” Applejack commented. “That almost looks-” She cut herself off and snatched the picture out of Rainbow’s hooves.

“Hey! What gives?” Rainbow irascibly demanded.

“Holy mother o’ mighty fine milk,” she whispered, the picture trembling in her hoof. “That’s… m-ma granny!”

The three others craned their heads to get a better look at the yellowing, ancient photograph. Partially obscured by dust and faded by age, it nevertheless showed a young Granny Smith posing beside a very suave middle-aged white unicorn stallion. He had sideburns, dressed very circumspectly for his time. Both of them had jars of Zap Apple Jam in their hooves.

“Granny Smith was around since th’ beginning of Ponyville,” Applejack croaked. “An’ this unicorn here looks an awful lot like… th’ very first mayor. Lemuel Silver.” A small growl of resentment accompanied that line.

“I don’t remember local history, so I’ll take your word for it,” Rainbow assumed.

“Wasn’t this originally an earth pony settlement?” Fluttershy asked.

“That’s why he volunteered to be the mayor. See, he was a unicorn supremacist. Thought other species of pony as beneath ‘im, so he’d be in charge of us. He demanded privileges an’ the like for takin’ on the job. Th’ mansion we’re in musta been commissioned jus’ for him.”

“And look where that got him,” Rainbow snorted.

“That explains his lust for power,” Twilight reasoned.

“And why it’s away from the rest of the town,” Applejack added, setting the picture on the closest available surface, a mirror frame.

“And why you can’t use magic inside,” Fluttershy added. “He’d want to feel superior to everyone else.”

Twilight tried again to activate her magic, but this time, a violet light pulsated from the tip. It felt so natural to her that for a second, she didn’t grasp the implications, but when she did, she audibly gasped. So did everyone else.

“Wh...what does this mean?” Fluttershy whispered in fright.

Twilight drew her eyes from one end of the room to another. A series of creaks sounded downstairs, drawing closer with every step. They were faint, but clear, and everypony could hear them in the otherwise silent room.

“Somepony’s coming!” Rainbow said, positioning herself between Fluttershy and the door leading out.

“Do we hide?” Applejack asked.

“No,” Twilight replied grimly. “We fight.”

Twilight’s magic intensified, this time with the intent to fire a spell. With every creaking step, they sounded louder and more distinct. Through the door leading downstairs, they saw a bobbing blue light.

“Hold on…” Applejack recognized. “Is that… Rarity?”

And indeed it was; Rarity appeared at the top of the landing, her pearly horn glowing a bright blue. She looked the worse for wear, all matted and scratched and blackened with coal dust, but otherwise seemed fine.

“Rarity!” Fluttershy joyously exclaimed, and shot to wrap Rarity in a warm hug. After a second of this, she released her. “I’m so glad to see you’re all right! Where’s Pinkie?”

“Pinkie… is…” Rarity started, trying to think off the top of her head. “Indisposed. In the kitchen.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “Why not in the library?”

“Library?” Rarity sounded bewildered. “Why would she go there?”

Rainbow came forward, a suspicious look crossing her face. “Because we agreed to meet there once you two found your way out of the basement.”

Rarity’s eyes were downcast. “I... really wish you all hadn’t noticed that.”

A vegetable knife from the kitchen, coated in her blue magic, appeared from behind her and swiped at Fluttershy. The pegasus had no time to react, and the blade caught her across the chest with a slash and a shriek. Fluttershy fell back, bleeding from a long but shallow cut.

Twilight fired at Rarity, who dropped the knife and put up an ice-blue shield that absorbed the blast. Rainbow came from above, and Applejack assisted with a powerful buck, and those two tandem attacks broke the shield and sent her tumbling back down a few steps.

Twilight aimed at the four windows in quick succession. A quick burst was enough to shatter each of them, and the cold wind quickly entered, rustling papers and blowing debris across the tower. “Get out! Now!”

Rainbow scooped up the bleeding Fluttershy and shot out the eastern window. Twilight, meanwhile, held Applejack under the armpits and headed towards the north window. But just before she could escape, Rarity screamed, “OH, NO YOU DON’T!” and hurled a flash of silver through the air. With a sick, soft impact, the knife lodged inside Applejack’s upper thigh, and she screamed in anguish. Maroon blood ran like water down her orange leg.

The last thing Twilight saw before she jumped out of the tower window was Rarity, red in the face with rage.

Twilight plummeted with the wounded Applejack in her arms. The tiled roof of the mansion below was only a second away. But that was enough for Twilight. Her horn chimed to life, and a hole opened in the roof with a burst of wood, stone, and tile. She spread her wings, glided through, and swooped into the dark house once more. She dropped the heavy earth pony and tumbled to a stop on the upper landing.

They were alive, but separated and wounded.

Comments

[SnowOriole]

They found out Rarity's identity quicker than I expected. This monster isn't very smart, although his fighting prowess may more than make up for it.