~ 01 ~ The Tale of the Headless Horse ~
Candles lit themselves in a dark room, casting an orange glow on a pink mare and three young ponies huddled in front of her. “Once again, fillies and filly, we are gathered to witness a true tale of terror,” said Pinkie Pie. “I bring you a story that is truth of the highest order, from—” she waved her hooves “—another dimension, ooooo~”
Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow. “Ain’t that, like, every story?”
“Pinkie couldn’t find any true stories ever since Twilight took her demonic cookbook,” Sweetie said with a sigh, “so now she’s just making stuff up.”
Pinkie smiled and waved her hooves. “Nope, none of this is made up! I personally witnessed this happening in another dimension.”
Scootaloo jumped up with a smile. “You mean this is a scary story from that weird human dimension?”
Sweetie sat in attention. “Oh hey, that could be really interesting. How does walking on two legs and having no magic influence horror? It could result in things Equestria’s indie horror scene could never come up with!”
“That sounds awesome, Pinkie!” said Apple Bloom.
Pinkie grinned uneasily. “Actually, no, this story comes from a dimension where everypony is still a pony.”
A chorus of boos erupted from the fillies.
Sensing she was losing them, Pinkie hastily said, “Oh, but it’s a very interesting dimension. For one thing, Twilight’s a ghost in this!”
“Is that a spoiler?” Sweetie asked, pointing angrily. “Did you just spoil us?”
Pinkie raised her hooves. “No, I didn’t! It’s part of the basic premise.” As Sweetie huffed, Pinkie realized something. “Wait a minute, did Rarity tell you guys the haunted mannequin story again?”
“YES!” all three of them said.
Pinkie fluttered her lips. “Oh, well, I’m sure you guys will cheer up once we get into it! Our tale starts in an enchanted library… that turned into a ghastly library!”
We all know the tale of how the Spirit imprisoned the three princesses, hiding them away from all ponies. But they were not his only victims.
The youngest princess, the princess of the library, loved knowledge, and even while hiding in a small village from the Spirit, it went against her nature not to share it. For in that village, she had constructed an underground library with boundless knowledge, now lost to the ages.
When the Spirit tracked down the youngest princess in her library, she was not alone. Though hidden, the ponies of that small village were known to frequent it, and one stallion was inside when tragedy fell. At the exact moment that the Spirit cast a barrier around the library, keeping the princess inside, the stallion was unknowingly walking into the bathroom. The Spirit’s magic bound itself to the walls, sealing off the exits, and cutting off the bathroom from the rest of the library.
Quite literally cutting off.
The stallion’s head fell into the bathroom, while the rest of his body remained inside the library. Rather than dying, however, chaos magic flowed into the exposed neck, enchanting the body and making it something more than a mere pony. Without a head, the body rose, and then reared up in triumph. The Headless Horse was born.
If you seek the princess of the library, then beware of her companion, wandering the Everfree Forest, forever seeking.
Rarity sat in a circle of ponies, lit only by a nearby candelabra that cast flickering shadows around them. Looking around warily, she then added in a hushed tone,
Beware, for the Headless Horse is more dangerous than any timberwolf, and has no qualms about using your own head as its own.
To punctuate the story, the light dimmed, bringing darkness to the room. With her magic, all of Rarity lit in a soft glow—all except for her head. Rarity waved her hooves at the youngest members of the group, making her best attempt at a sinister moan. The Cutie Mark Crusaders lightly yelped in response then giggled. The two mares sitting with her, Applejack and Fluttershy, cheered Rarity’s performance, and she made a delighted headless bow.
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “Rarity telling a good ghost story? Now I know this is an alternate reality!” she squeaked.
“Nice job including us, by the way,” said Apple Bloom.
“I hope my head gets cut off!” said Scootaloo.
Pinkie crossed her front legs. “Hush now, little fillies. We haven’t even gotten to the main attraction yet.”
The candelabra floated up, propelled by its own magic, and flew to the ceiling, where it transformed into a full-fledged chandelier that flooded the room in light. The ponies sat on blankets and pillows surrounding a half-full basket of muffins, with wrappers and crumbs on the ground showing it was full earlier that night. Around them were books: many many books, all organized on numerous and thickly-packed bookshelves. Aisles of books circled around a massive room, with another floor visible below packed with even greater knowledge.
They were in a library, and no ordinary library. It was an underground library, surrounded by ruins of a small town from ages ago. The very library from the story, that once belonged to a princess of Equestria.
And it belonged to her still.
As the light returned, an ethereal figure looked down on them with a slight frown. She floated in the air on purple wings, with the restored light shining right through her: it was the princess of the library herself, Twilight Sparkle. This figure of legend, thought no more than a fairy tale, opened her mouth and said, “I… have issues with this story.” Her eyes shifted to the side, as though narrowing down what to bring up first. “For one thing, I think I would have noticed a headless pony walking around the library.”
Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at the alicorn. “Oh pish-posh Twilight, it’s a ghost story, most likely made well after you disappeared. It’s all in good fun.”
With a glow of her horn, a book labeled A Collection of Regional Frightful Tales appeared next to the princess and she flipped through it. “I suppose tying stories to preexisting stories isn’t too unusual, like the story of the Weeping Mare I told earlier having a variation that connects her to the Windigos, but I’m an actual pony that ponies can talk to.”
“My, darling, I would have expected you to be interested in how ponies expanded your legend,” Rarity said with a smirk.
“Must be weird having ghost stories based on things that really happened to you,” said Apple Bloom.
Twilight nodded. “Inaccurate stories about my disappearance is one thing, but adding peripheral characters like this is something else. Is the Headless Horse popular?”
“You bet,” said Applejack. “Probably the biggest tall tale around these parts other than the princesses themselves.” She paused. “No offense, Princess.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “None taken.”
Fluttershy shivered. “There are other stories about the Headless Horse too. Like that one about that poor crane. Oh, it’s just so sad.”
“Uh, Fluttershy, pretty sure that’s about a pony named Crane, not an actual crane,” said Applejack.
Fluttershy blinked. “Oh. I see. Not as scary, then.”
Twilight tapped her chin. “Though actually, this does remind me of a legend that the diamond dogs have, which also involves a head getting cut off. I wonder if this evolved from that… though I don’t think ponies and diamond dogs have interacted much, from what you’ve told me, so it shouldn’t be related.”
Rarity tossed her mane. “In any case, you must admit, this managed to get some things right that other stories about you haven’t. Very few mention the barrier, for instance.”
“That’s true,” Twilight said. “It also got that detail about the bathroom right.”
Scootaloo shot up. “Wait, there was a bathroom here the entire time?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Scootaloo, you can’t use it! It’s outside the barrier, so I’ve never been able to clean it with my magic, and with Old Ponyville gone, it isn’t even connected to anything!”
Sweetie Belle scrunched her face. “Eww, Scootaloo, don’t use a thousand year old toilet!”
“I’m not going to use it!” said Scootaloo. “I just want to see it! Come on, don’t you want to see it, too?”
Apple Bloom gasped. “If we find the Headless Horse’s head there, maybe we can put him to rest!”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. “We’ll have exorcist cutie marks!”
Before Twilight could say anything, or even point out where the bathroom was, the Crusaders ran away, cheering.
Rarity shook her head. “Look at them, galloping like they’re the Headless Horse themselves. Such manners.” She looked up to see the princess frowning. “Oh, but don’t worry about them, dearest. They know well enough by now what areas of the library to avoid. Though to be clear, the bathroom is on this floor and not, well, down below, correct?”
“It is, though I blocked it off with a bookshelf as soon as I found out I couldn’t go into it, so I probably should go help them.”
Rarity sighed theatrically. “If you must.” She stretched out and posed dramatically. “I shall wait for you here forever, my beloved. Perhaps I too, in time, shall become a spirit, waiting for my sparkling heart to return.”
Twilight flushed red. “R-Rarity, not in front of the others.”
Rarity winked. “But I thought ghost stories were why we were here.”
“Yes, but…” Twilight huffed, still blushing. “Never mind. I’ll bring them back in a few minutes.”
With a flash of her horn, the princess disappeared.
Fluttershy giggled, and Applejack said with a smile, “You really know how to push her buttons, huh?”
Rarity smiled. “Yes, well, given how coldly she used to act, it’s hard not to indulge in getting a reaction out of her.”
“Though, actually,” Fluttershy said, touching her chin with her hoof, “going back to what you and Twilight were talking about earlier, it is strange that this Headless Horse story got some details right. How do you think that happened?”
“We know some of my family’s been down here,” said Applejack. “Some of them probably told a truthful description of the library to ponies, and then it got all confused and mixed up with the Headless Horse story at some point.”
“But somepony walking into the bathroom and getting their head cut off by the barrier—that seems like something you’d only come up with if you really knew the layout of the library. Plus, Twilight just said she sealed it off as soon as she learned she couldn’t reach it. That should have been right away, right? Definitely before Fritter Cobbler came here.”
Rarity blinked. “Goodness, Fluttershy. Are you afraid the story could be true?”
Fluttershy stammered. “Yes—no—well… maybe.”
Applejack put a hoof on Fluttershy’s back. “Twilight herself said she never saw a headless pony, and she’s the ghost around here.”
“Not a ghost,” Fluttershy replied.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fine, she’s the ‘not a ghost’ around here.”
“OK, hold on,” said Apple Bloom. “I was kinda expecting an explanation to come up all natural-like, but we’ve been going on for a while, so what in tarnation is going on here?”
“Yeah, you literally started the story with ‘we all know the tale’ when no, we don’t,” added Scootaloo, holding a hoof up. “Though I will say, that bit with us wanting cutie marks was pretty nostalgic.”
“Is Twilight one of the three princesses, or is she something else?” asked Apple Bloom. “Cuz there are five princesses in Equestria right now.”
“No, Celestia and Luna retired, remember?” said Scootaloo.
“Oh yeah. So the princesses are Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry Heart?”
Boiling over, Sweetie Belle slammed her hooves. “Why’s Twilight a ghost?! Or not a ghost?!”
Suddenly caught up in the anger, Scootaloo stomped her hooves too. “And where’s Rainbow Dash?!”
Pinkie shook her head and shrugged. “Sorry, girls. I’m just telling the story as I saw it, so I don’t know the answers to those questions.”
“What the hay, Pinkie?!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
With a smile, Pinkie spread her hooves. “If anything, this is even more proof that this is something I saw and not something I made up! Would I make this up without figuring out all that?”
The Crusaders conversed amongst themselves briefly, then spoke over each other with variations of, “Probably.”
Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, that does sound like me. But because I didn’t make this up, our story continues with those unanswered questions lingering in the air. Soon, they will be joined by more questions…”
“It’s just that,” Fluttershy said, then paused. “It’s just, ever since that story, something’s been making me feel uneasy. Like there’s someone else in the room with us.”
There was a distant thud, and Fluttershy yelped.
Rarity stood up. “You don’t think it’s the Spirit, do you?”
Applejack chuckled. “You’re both getting too worked up. Twilight has all those precautions against the Spirit in place, and nothing happened last time we came here. Fluttershy’s just worried because of the story.”
Even as Applejack said that, Rarity knew firsthand how dangerous the Spirit could be. With a serious expression, she said, “Nevertheless, we should let Twilight know right away.”
At this, Fluttershy sank back. “Oh, I mean, I didn’t want to cause a stir.”
“Nonsense! We’ll just walk over to where Twilight went and she’ll have this cleared up in no time.”
“But—”
At this, Rarity lightly coated Fluttershy in magic and pulled her as she walked. “Tut tut, no buts!” Fluttershy put up no resistance and walked along with her, despite her worried frown.
“I’ll just stay here until y’all get back, then,” said Applejack.
And so, Applejack was left alone among the blankets and books. She reached into a nearby basket and popped a muffin into her mouth. She chewed it for several moments, savoring the taste, and then swallowed. She looked around.
“Probably should have just gone with them,” she said to herself. “I want to know about the bathroom too.”
She heard some light thuds far behind her. Hoofsteps?
“Finally got back, huh?” she said.
There was no response.
Then there was another thud.
Applejack got up. “Elara? Themis? That you?”
She approached a pair of bookshelves, one against the wall and another a few feet away. Packed thick with books, it was impossible to see through one shelf to the other side. With her eyebrow raised, Applejack poked her head into the aisle between them and—
SLICE
THUD
“Hmm, I could have sworn Twilight went off in this direction,” said Rarity.
“If they found the bathroom, then Twilight should have moved the bookshelf blocking it, right?” Fluttershy replied serenely. “That’ll be hard to miss. As long as we stick to the wall, we’ll get there soon enough.”
Rarity scrunched her brows and hummed. She was partially annoyed that Fluttershy was less nervous about this than her when she was the one who brought this up in the first place, and partially relieved by her calming presence. As she looked around, craning her neck past shelves in hopes of a glimpse of the princess, her hoof knocked away something on the ground. She looked down and said, “Why hello there.”
Four thick tomes were scattered on the ground, some splayed and some still closed. The mares looked at a nearby bookshelf and found a gap where all four books would have fit.
Through that gap, they saw a wooden door, opening in and leading into a dark room.
“The bathroom! We found it!” exclaimed Rarity. “Assuming there aren’t other rooms hidden behind shelves, which I suppose isn’t all that unlikely.”
“Did the Crusaders knock these books down? Are they what caused that thud earlier?” asked Fluttershy.
“They must have. Twilight would never leave her books in this state for long.” Rarity shook her head.
Fluttershy looked around. “Where are they?”
“I can only imagine that in their excitement, they ran right past it and Twilight is looking for them. They’ll probably be back any moment, so let’s just stay here.”
Fluttershy giggled. “It isn’t like you to want to stay right outside a bathroom,” she said teasingly.
Rarity scoffed lightly. “I’ve been in a dungeon, I can handle a moderately mysterious bathroom.” She levitated the books and placed them back on the shelf, making sure they were in the correct order. She idly wondered if she would have taken such care in the past, before another thought occurred to her.
“Fluttershy, dear, before the girls get here, how about we take a quick peek inside?”
Fluttershy blinked. “Didn’t you say they’d be here any moment?”
“Well yes, but it’ll be less than a moment. Plus, I’d be helping Twilight, and it’d be good to make sure there isn’t anything that would scare poor Sweetie Belle, wouldn’t you think?”
“I do have to admit I’m curious what a thousand year old bathroom looks like,” Fluttershy said. “Plus, there might be some moles or snakes living there now!”
Rarity’s face scrunched up. “And I’m suddenly less interested.”
Still, curiosity got the better of her and she pulled on the bookshelf with her magic. It took some effort to start, but after it moved a bit, pulling it out enough for a pony to fit through was simple enough.
Blocked by the bookshelf, the chandelier light cast shadows onto the doorway, making it impossible to see inside.
“I just realized,” said Fluttershy. “It’s kind of strange that the door is already open, isn’t it?”
Rarity lit her horn, casting some light to show white tiles on the ground. “The barrier goes along the walls, so if it goes over the doorway, then Twilight has no way of closing it. No wonder she covered this up; she’d have to watch it get dirty with no way to clean it.”
They stood there for several seconds, staring at the entrance. Rarity’s horn light refused to reveal more of the room, seeming to get sucked in by the darkness. The only way to see more was to step forward.
“Well, I’ve seen enough!” said Fluttershy. “Twilight can give the tour when she gets here.”
Rarity shook her head. “This is ridiculous. I’ve faced dragons and chaos magic, and won! I won’t get stymied by a loo!”
Taking a breath, Rarity intensified the glow of her horn and stepped inside.
Though caked in dust, it was clear that at one point, this room was a queen among bathrooms, even in modern times. Considering it was single-occupant, it was quite large, with a stone tile floor and several decayed structures that she could only assume were state-of-the-art machines all dedicated to clean hooves and bums. There was an area with a floor made of some smoother structure with a grate in the ground—could this have been a shower? Rarity smiled at the thought of Twilight insisting on a shower in her library so she wouldn’t ever have to leave. And to top it off, it seemed like the bathroom extended even further past where her light reached. Now that could wait for the princess.
Rarity turned back to the cowering Fluttershy. “Well, dust aside, there’s nothing to fear here. Alas, there don’t appear to be any animals for you either.”
Fluttershy wasn’t reassured at all and looked right past the unicorn. “Rarity…” She then just barely forced out, “Look…”
Rarity felt a chill down her spine. Feeling her mouth dry up, she forced herself to turn to where Fluttershy was looking. She looked down.
Rarity blinked. “No… it—it couldn’t be…”
And yet, there it was. Right next to the bathroom door, in a corner that Rarity neglected before, was a bleached white skeleton without a skull.
The Crusaders ran through the library, yelling excitedly.
“When we get there,” said Scootaloo, “I dare one of you to dare me to sit on the toilet!”
“Eww, no!” said Sweetie Belle.
“I bet you’d back out if we did,” said Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo frowned. “N-no! And I’d totally lick it too, if you dared me to!”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Scootaloo, what are you even doing?”
“Girls, stop!”
The Crusaders skidded to a halt as Twilight landed in front of them. The princess shook her head. “We passed by the bathroom ages ago. We practically went in a circle back to where we started!”
The fillies smiled nervously. “Sorry, Princess Twilight,” they said together.
Twilight shook her head. “It’s fine. We should probably check in with the others while we’re here.”
The Crusaders nodded and followed Twilight back to the sleepover site. Aside from blankets and a now-empty basket of muffins, there was nothing there.
“Where is everypony?” asked Sweetie.
Twilight sighed in exasperation. “They must have gone looking for you. How about you stay here while I go find them.”
Scootaloo looked around, then pointed. “Found one!”
Poking out from behind a bookshelf was a pair of orange back legs, connected to a flank with three red apples making up a cutie mark, and a yellow tail.
“Hey sis, we’re back!” said Apple Bloom as she waved.
There was no response.
Apple Bloom approached with her eyebrow raised. “Sis? Come on, is whatever you’re looking at that interesting?”
She tugged on her sister’s tail.
Now that got a response.
Applejack jumped away, bumping into the shelf. She turned away from it and bucked it, knocking it off balance. Books spilled onto the ground, and the shelf itself loudly crashed down. The Crusaders screamed and jumped away.
“Applejack! Have you lost your mind?!” Twilight yelled, looking angrily at the fallen books.
She heard the Crusaders gasp, and when she turned to see what they saw, she couldn’t help but do the same.
Applejack hadn’t just lost her mind. She lost her head.
The headless body of Applejack reared up, flailing her legs, and the screams of fillies echoed throughout the library.
Fluttershy looked back in fear. “Rarity! Did you hear that?”
Unheeding, Rarity continued staring at the skeleton. This was proof, wasn’t it? Proof that the Headless Horse story was true.
And yet… wasn’t there something wrong about this? Something that just didn’t add up…
From a distance, a figure leered at the three fillies and the princess as they encountered his latest work.
Now, it wondered, which would be best suited for a beheading?
“And… bathroom break!” Pinkie announced right as she darted away in a puff of smoke.
The listening Crusaders looked at each other and groaned.
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Dammit, Discord.
I love the framing device. Pinkie Pie is best planeswalker. Clearly she’ll need to get a human-world scary story for next year.
Also, great suspense and payoff pacing thus far. Looking forward to more.
I love your horror-comedies the best. You really keep everypony in character and this seems like the type of writing the creators would do if Hasbro would let them tweak it for an older audience.
11144891
Thank you very much! Yeah, these horror comedies are pretty fun to write. You're the first to praise them specifically; maybe this will be a specialty for me.