Rainbow Dash's Awesome Nightmare Night Haunted House Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Adventure

by TheDriderPony

You Have Nothing to Fear...

The massive door swings open at your touch, far easier than its size suggests it should have. Fog like a corpse's breath spills out from behind it, curling around your hooves in wispy tendrils. You step through and find yourself on the landing of a spiral staircase. The steps and wall are both alike made of the same rough stone, dark but without the luster of obsidian. Ghostly red flames hanging in the air give off just enough light to see where one step ends and the next begins.

Compared to the modern-but-dated look of the rest of the mansion, this section feels like it was torn off an old castle and stuck on to the backdoor. Knowing the kind of magic Starlight can wield you wouldn't put it past her, and you can't deny that the oppressive atmosphere it gives off really lends itself to a sense of finality.

You begin to ascend the stairs, wings flapping slowly as the landing swiftly disappears behind and your path curves ever upward, ever out of sight just beyond the next bend.

And you climb. And climb. And climb.

The air feels thick and heavy between your feathers, like you're trying to fly through syrup. Every stroke feels like it takes ten times the effort it should. Already you're starting to tire and it hasn't even been that long!

How long has is been though? Five minutes? Ten? No way the tower can be this high; you'd have seen it from the outside. It's so hard to get your bearings, like there's a pressure in the back of your skull whenever you try to focus too hard on any single direction.

You brake in the air and and hover down slowly until your hooves rest back on solid stone. The moment you touch down, the feeling in the back of your head vanishes. Your sense of up, down, and forward come back into agreement with what your eyes can see. Despite that relief there's still an uncomfortable texture to the air, like you've been descending into a deep cave rather than rising.

You trot a few steps back down and almost immediately see the edge of the landing.

"Oh," you say as realization dawns. A trick staircase. Or space warping magic. Or some other weird magic. Whatever the cause, the rule it enforces it plainly obvious. "Fine. No flying."

With your hooves firmly on the ground, once again you begin your ascent, grumbling under your breath about unfairness against pegasi. This time you barely have to circle the central pillar twice before you encounter something new. An azure magical barrier bars the way. It stretches from wall to wall and ceiling to step, creating a haze curtain inside which drift swirls and eddies of magic. As you approach, a few lines of glowing text appear at eye level, surrounded by a constellation of little silhouetted shapes.

The message reads:

You've used many tools to fight your fears and aid you on you way. Some were easier to acquire than others. But which of them were freely given? Choose wisely.

You recognize the shapes now as various things you have in your Inventory Bucket. It seems that in order to pass, you need to select the one that correctly answers the question. That's easy enough. All your items were acquired through winning, and you remember everything you've ever won.

Author's Note:

Which of the floating icons do you select?

[The Boot]
[The Silver Coins]
[The Clock]
[The Summoning Wand]
[The Stick]
[The Bucket of Water]