Shame on you
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom watched in utter awe at seeing their pegasus friend running back and forth across the CMC clubhouse. Scootaloo had been packing all morning, and somehow, when the sun was getting closer to setting, she didn't slow down in the slightest, and yet she told nopony about even the vaguest detail of her plan. Then again, by watching the packing event, you would be able to make a guess about what she was planning, yet each thing she packed seemed to be completely unrelated to the last. A bag of sage, incense, a few books, a little vial of salt, a necklace, a camera, and a plank of wood. The confusion was enough, and Apple Bloom decided to step over. "You ever gonna tell us what you're plannin' for?"
Scootaloo, seemingly snapped out of her trance, looked up at Apple Bloom with a smile the size of the moon. "We're gonna get our cutie marks in creature hunting!" While her face stayed in a huge grin, her friends just gave looks of confusion, and a harmonized "huh?"
"You mean we're gonna go out and wrangle some critters?" Apple Bloom's face twisted into an expression of nervousness for a moment, before she leaned in to whisper. "Like Timberwolves?"
"No, we can prove that those exist." She reached into one of the backpacks and pulled out a small piece of paper, unfolding it into a large map of the area around Ponyville. On it were various areas marked with red circles, notes appended with odd names for animals that they had heard during campfire stories and other tall tales. Names like "Bighoof", "Olden Pony", and "Even Bigger than Jumbo Shrimp". Apple Bloom, still a bit skeptical, looked at the map and then at her friend. "You mean these old foal tales?"
Scootaloo pulled a book labeled "Cryptozoology: Just stories?" and began to read from a few passages. "Cryptozoology is the study of creatures that nopony has proven to exist but many have said they have seen." She flipped over to another page with a diagram of a pale pony with no mouth, but large, sunken eyes. "Like look at this! A Fool's Foal. It can take form of anypony it has seen and heard, even mimicking their voice. We know things like this are possible, changelings are right there!"
Apple Bloom sat down and began to analyze the page. "Well, yeah, but we know changelins exist. They got an entire kingdom marked on every map of Equestria. If these things are real, then why hasn't anypony gotten proof of one?"
"I doubt if anypony found one without a disguise that it would just stand still for a photo." Scootaloo reasoned. Which, even though Apple Bloom wouldn't admit, was a pretty good point. "Anyway, most ponies report hearing the voices of loved ones from the Everfree forest, even claiming they see the white coat of one poking out from behind trees. Almost every time, the loved one being mimicked was walking with them, and the voice repeated sentences the pony had just said." as she read the chapter, her wings fluttered with excitement, though Sweetie Belle began to share Apple Bloom's skepticism.
"Weren't you just scared of the Olden Pony last week?" Sweetie Belle asked, a little confused in her friend's excitement. "Well, yeah, but all we have to do with this thing is get a picture of it. It won't try to hurt us, it just seems to mimic voices and looks." Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged a glance, almost having a silent conversation of facial expressions. Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow and tilted her head towards Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom nodded in response, punctuating the exchange with a shared look at Scootaloo. "Why not, maybe having a cutie mark in monster hunting might make us braver." Sweetie Belle stated while moving to Scootaloo's side. Apple Bloom let out a quiet "mmhmm" as she went to the other side of her pegasus friend. "Even if the chances of us findin' it are slim to none, I know it'll be fun with my friends at my side."
"Real glad y'all decided to stay the night," the deep, southern voice of Applejack addressed the three fillies, "but I can't help but think there are, er, better accommodations for y'all." She was, of course, referring the the treehouse the 3 had decided to take residence in. It was the crusader clubhouse, so a crusader sleepover just had to take place there. Well, that's what they said to their sisters when asked. Apple Bloom shrugged off the suggestion from her sister and put on her best "I'm all grown up" face. "We'll be fine, sis. We're in walkin' distance from the house, so if somethin' comes after us we can get home right quick." This seemed to satisfy Applejack, who laughed and rustled her little sister's mane. "Alrighty then, but if you need anything, anythin' at all, I'll be up later tonight. Have fun y'all!" With that, she began the short journey to the house, while the crusaders began to wave and shout their goodbyes to their host.
As they got into the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle immediately sat down and looked down at her hooves. "I can't believe we're lying to our sisters. If Rarity finds out she'll flip!" Before she could go on with her worrying, Scootaloo patted Sweetie Belle on the back, a simple gesture which helped calm the unicorn foal. "We'll be fine, nopony'll even know we're gone. We'll just go out into the forest, find the critter, then head home." This helped assure the unicorn further, who trotted up to the three saddlebags set before the group, opened the one adorned with music notes, and carefully inspected the contents. Most of them made sense; incense and sage was always said to ward off evil spirits, and the books would help them identify what creature they found, but one thing caught her attention. Picking it up with her muzzle, she pulled a 2x4 wooden plank out and set it on the ground. "What is this for?" Scootaloo walked up to it and knocked her hoof on it a few times. "Knock on wood." was all she said. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged a look as they both accepted the answer with no more question.
Apple Bloom put on the saddlebag with an apple on it, and Scootaloo equipped the one with a lightning bolt on the side. Sweetie Belle put the plank of wood in her bag and looked at the map. The trail that was planned would have the group venturing deep into the forest, far beyond what anypony they knew had gone before, but clearly some brave explorers were able to chart a detailed map of the place. Each part of the woods had a different drawing of a different monster on it, until there was a black, tall pony silhouette with a red circle around it at the end of the trail they were supposed to be heading on. Though she felt uneasy, she knew that this could be her chance to get a cutie mark with her best friends, so she decided to pony up, put on her saddlebag, and look out the window towards the forest. It was dark and imposing, something she was anxious to approach, but with her friends by her side, she could do anything. She dropped down from the window and grouped with the others. Together, they set off on their trek into the woods, making extra sure to hide from any windows that Applejack could see them out of.
The subtle, warm light of the lamp on the end table helped illuminate the book Applejack was reading to kill time. Applejack knew that if her sister's first sleepover was anything like her own, that she would be up a bit later than usual. She wanted to be up in case her sister needed anything late at night. She only hoped that her sister and her friends would have fun the way she did when she was a filly, and that she was there no matter what. She glanced up from her book to see Big McIntosh heading up the stairs, who glanced back before heading up. "I'll be up a spell, Big Mac. Aren't'cha on delivery duty tomorrow?" Applejack quietly called to her brother, who responded with a quiet little "Eeyup." before heading upstairs to retire for the night.
Applejack settled back onto the couch and glanced out of the window towards the clubhouse, light gently shining out of the window, making it pretty much a beacon. The earth pony laughed to herself, wondering what games her sister was playing with her friends, or what new songs they were poorly singing together. Just as she was pushing those ideas out of her head to go back to reading, she noticed the light go out and the door of the clubhouse open. Her attention was fully on the three tiny silhouettes trotting out of the clubhouse and towards the Everfree forest, clearly trying to hide from her sight. Applejack watched intentively, confused as to whether the dark was making her see things, or if it really was the little group trying to trot off without being caught. She shut off the lamp and quietly left out the kitchen door to watch them more closely, and sure enough the silhouette of Apple Bloom's bow was visible as it disappeared into the foliage. Applejack was worried, confused, and a little bit upset at her sister, but she decided to just trot after them from a distance to see just what the hay they were up to.
The bright moonlight was diluted by the tall evergreen trees, so despite the moon being full, it was barely bright enough to see two meters in front of you. Scootaloo deeply regretted being confident in the moonlight illuminating everything for them, cuz now she couldn't tell what was skittering critters or the wind blowing leaves through the forest. She did her best to keep her attention in front of her, following the memorized route as best as she could. If she paid attention to the task at hoof, she could ignore how the tree branches around her looked like they were reaching out to her. Doubts began to cycle her mind, regret that she thought it would be a good idea to do this, regret feigning confidence and bravery that she didn't have. She thought that once she got to the forest with her friends that the fear would be replaced with confidence, but that simply wasn't the case. Maybe if she kept faking it, it would be real, then she would know for sure that she was hearing the wind and not somepony whispering her name.
Scootaloo jumped a bit when she heard Apple Bloom shout a few feet ahead of her, letting out an excited "Gals, look!" which brought the little train to a stop. The single file line slowly became a side-by-side wall as they stared at a much brighter patch, somewhere with no trees for at least a 20 meter radius. In the center of this little clearing was an old, run down, 2 story house, towering over the fillies. The wooden planks that built it up were rotting, the broken windows were boarded up and there were so many cobwebs on the porch that they could be seen from the edge of the clearing. The door was hanging slightly ajar, but somehow the inside was illuminated just as much as the clearing surrounding it, despite there being no concievable way for such a thing to happen.
Apple Bloom took the first steps ahead, walking up to the porch and pushing the door the rest of the way open, turning back and beckoning the others to join her. Scootaloo, excited to finally get inside somewhere, speedtrotted into the house, Sweetie Belle following with a casual gait, and Apple Bloom closing the door behind them. Well, she tried at the very least, but the handle snapped off in her muzzle, so she just set it down gently and joined the girls.
The inside of the mansion was spacious, a super open living room that was sparsely decorated save for a few rugs and wall decorations, but the patterns were covered in too much dust to make out even the slightest detail. Despite being away from the twisted grimaces of the trees outside and the laughter of the wind, the mysterious building made Scootaloo even more nervous, feeling her heart drop into her stomach. As the group spread out to investigate this new place, Scootaloo made sure to keep at least one of her friends in sight.
The investigation moved pretty quick, since there was so little to investigate in each room. Even the kitchen didn't have a fridge, and half of the cabinets had the doors falling off their hinges. But after Apple Bloom opened one cupboard and had a spider scurry out and away, she simply didn't want to know what was in the other few. Apple Bloom turned over to see her pegasus friend glancing around frantically, clearly offput. "Ya good?" she called to the pegasus, but she simply nodded and muttered something about just taking in the sights, something Apple Bloom didn't believe for a second. "You know, if yer scared, that's nothin' to be ashamed of. This is all a little freaky." Scootaloo turned to her friend and scoffed the idea away. "Scared? Why would a daredevil like me be scared of a creepy old house?" she ended that idea by wrapping a forehoof around Apple Bloom, "Besides, with my friends by my side, a hundred monsters could come running through that door and I know we'll make it out alright." Apple Bloom laughed and pushed the hoof off of her shoulder, amused by her friend's little show of bravery. "Alright, but if this gets too scary for ya, we can go home and try again later. Sound good?" The only response she got was a simple nod, then they both went to looking around.
Scootaloo felt silly for being scared before, and decided she would look around upstairs for anything that could either help the monster hunt or tell them more about the house they were in. As she made it to the upstairs area, she was shocked at how empty it was. It was just one big room, with the staircase to the attic on the other side of the room, the only thing decorating the room being a bed, some dressers, and a clock on the wall that didn't move or make even the slightest ticking noise. Scootaloo felt a bit uneasy, but pushed past it as she began to root around in the dresser for something, but all she could find was a torn up photo of a stallion standing next to a mare, but the photo was so torn up that the heads were completely gone, and the colors were so faded that the color of the coats was entirely undistinguishable.
While Scootaloo tried to decipher who these ponies were, she heard something hard hit the wooden floor behind her. Spinning around, she saw that a painting had fallen to the ground by the attic stairs, and she laughed at herself for being silly. As she approached, she got startled by Apple Bloom's voice echoing out, saying "Ya good?" Scootaloo froze in her place and her blood ran cold. She looked in the direction of the voice of her friend, and was met by the inky blackness of the attic above her. There was one stairway up here, how did Apple Bloom beat her to the attic?
Scootaloo started to step back from the staircase, when she heard the voice call out again. "If yer scared, that's nothin' to be ashamed of." it taunted her. Something was off about how she spoke, almost as if it was a recording that someone slowed down ever so slightly. It was the exact cadence, tone, and pronunciation of how she said it earlier, down to the way her voice raised pitch slightly as she ended the word "scared". Scootaloo just kept staring into the darkness, now feeling an intense urge to follow the voice into the attic. It wasn't a desire, it was almost like instinct, as if her fight or flight was being suppressed and she was being called to the attic by her very nature, but the abject terror of the situation had glued her hooves to the floor. Scootaloo stood there for what felt like hours, days even, in an unspoken staring contest with the void above her, the irrational fear that if she lost attention for the smallest fraction of time, whatever was up there would be able to lunge at her, and she didn't want to imagine what would unfold if that were to happen.
"Scootaloo, what are you doing?" Sweetie Belle's voice broke the silence, shaking Scootaloo out of her fear. She instinctively ran to the stairway as quick as possible, not even glancing back, nearly drifting when she rounded the corner into the kitchen, where she was met with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. When they asked what was wrong, her frantic mutterings were the only response they could get. Sweetie Belle started gently stroking Scootaloo's back, which helped calm her down. Scootaloo looked up at Sweetie Belle, who simply smiled and reiterated; "What's wrong?"
"Something just spoke to me with Apple Bloom's voice." she said between breaths, still winded from the adrenaline rush she was still going through. "It was in the attic and I just stared at it until Sweetie Belle shook me out of it." She let out a sigh and collapsed on the floor in front of the two. She slowly stood back up and looked at her unicorn friend with relief, who only returned a look of confusion. "Uhh, I've been down here the whole time, Scootaloo."
Just then, the sound of rapid, heavy hoofsteps echoed throughout the house, and that paralyzing fear came back, this time affecting the entire group. The six eyes were all glued to the staircase as they heard the footsteps slow down to a meticulous thump, thump, thump. The silence between each step was deafening, even though it lasted only a few seconds between each one. Whatever it was, it was approaching the staircase as slow as it could, making sure that each step had a decent gap between each. Until, eventually, the steps stopped, and the three stood there in silence, staring at the stairs, waiting for whatever horrible creature was up there to come scurrying down. The silence felt like it lasted for moons, the only sound being the deafening, pounding heartbeat in Scootaloo's ears, which was so close to driving her mad.
"Scootaloo? Where are you?" the silence was once again broken by Sweetie Belle's voice, this time coming from the stairwell. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both looked at Sweetie Belle, who began shaking ever so slightly. The group remained fixed on the staircase as the fake voice kept echoing out calls for a response. This voice was much more imperfect than the Apple Bloom impression, sounding more like an animal trying to mimic the voice than a one for one recreation, but it sounded more and more like Sweetie Belle with each time it spoke.
Eventually, the thumping started again, causing the stairs to creak. Slower than before, an echoing and meticulous thump, thump, thump as it descended the stairs, as if it was trying to milk the reveal as much as possible. Eventually, a long, pale hoof stepped out into view, then another. Then the short muzzle of a tall mare, then the full, tall body of the creature. It was gaunt, and so pale that it practically glowed in the dark, and was taller than anypony the group had ever seen, maybe taller than Celestia herself. It had no tail, no mane, or mouth, the only part of the thing that looked normal were the ears that stuck out atop it's head. It stood, sniffing the air for a bit, before turning it's face to the group at a speed so fast it was almost impossible, it even let out an audible crack as it did so. The face of the creature was nothing more than two wide eyes with black pupils that took up 90% of the space of the eye, and seemed to absorb light altogether, being impossibly dark. It stared at the group, not blinking once, just keeping eye contact with the small group.
Scootaloo felt that inexplicable sensation from before, the desire to approach the creature. She didn't move, this time not just out of paralyzing fear, but out of determination to get out alive. She wouldn't let this thing hurt her or her friends, and she wished she could convey that to the others, as Sweetie Belle had begun quietly sobbing. Slowly, she began to move her head towards Apple Bloom's saddlebag, as she rooted around for something, anything that could help out. She glanced back over at the creature and noticed that it had changed it's position, with it's rear high up in the air in a pouncing position. Scootaloo jolted back to her original position, knowing full well that they couldn't outrun or outpower this thing. Then it echoed out in Scootaloo's voice. "We'll make it out alright" was the last thing it let out before lunging at the group at impossible speeds, clearing 3 meters in less than a second. The group all collectively winced and braced themselves for what was coming next.
But they never took the hit, instead, they heard what sounded like a tree getting bucked and then something crashing into the wood. Scootaloo opened her eyes and saw a familiar orange earth pony standing in front of them, who quickly returned the glance. "Everypony out the door! Now!" she shouted, which was more than enough to get the girls to sprint out the door, Applejack close behind. As they were running away, Scootaloo looked behind them and saw the lanky white pony staring at them from the doorway, and watched in horror as it slowly began to contort, slowly getting smaller, gaining a brighter orange tint, and a blonde mane. Yet, while it stole Applejack's form, it still had those impossibly dark eyes and a lack of a mouth. At least, until the flesh split into a gooey mess, revealing a mouth that then proceeded to bite away the residue of the previous flesh still left around the mouth. It blinked a few times, each time, the irises shrinking and getting a slight green tinge each time. It stared, still showing a distinct lack of emotion, all the way until the group ran past the treeline and out of view.
The four sat in the living room, still shaken up but alot more comfortable now that they were home. Applejack hadn't said a word since they returned, but she was still figuring out how to properly chew them out after they were done settling down. After all, they were almost killed by a fool's foal, as angry as Applejack was that they had lied and ran off without telling anypony where they were going, she was glad that she could get there and bring them all home in one piece. Eventually she sighed and stood up, which grabbed the attention of the CMCs. "Is everyone alright?" the group responded to the older sister with their own affirmations, to which Applejack sighed a breath of relief. "Thank Celestia. Now what the hay were y'all doin out in the Everfree forest so late at night? Yer lucky it ain't timberwolf season."
The three remained silent, until Scootaloo stepped forward, her legs still a bit shaky from what she saw. "Applejack, it's my fault." she began, guilt welling up in her eyes. "I read about some monster that nopony could prove existed and I wanted to be the first. It was irresponsible of me to put everypony in danger, and we shouldn't have lied to do it."
Applejack wanted to keep being angry, but at the end of the night she was glad everypony got out without a scratch. She sat down, let out an exasperated sigh and took a swig of her cider. "Look, I don't mind y'all wantin' to go out and do some ghost huntin', me and my friends loved messin' around with stuff like that. But if I didn't see y'all leavin' the clubhouse, you wouldn't be sittin' here discussin' it with me, now would ya?" Scootaloo's face flushed red as she muttered "I didn't think you'd see us."
"Well I did, and I'm glad I did. I don't know what I would do if y'all had gotten hurt under my watch." Applejack took another greedy gulp of her cider before setting down the mug it was in. "Now, I'm not gonna lie to you and say I ain't mad, in fact, I'm fumin', but more than anything I'm just thankful that you're alright. That bein' said, y'all're sleeping in the livin' room tonight. I'll watch y'all to make sure nopony tries sneakin' out again. Got that?" Applejack's tone got the message across, and the three fillies nodded in agreement, already curled up in positions to be able to sleep. Applejack knew the threat would work, even if nopony in their right mind would try to do such a thing after the encounter they just had. She went into the closet and grabbed blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows for everypony to rest on, which they all set up as a nice fort where they were all close together. Applejack got up, shut off all the lights, and turned on the gentle warm light of the end table lamp, going back to her reading. The three ponies wished Applejack goodnight, who returned the sentiment, and they all drifted to sleep. After about 20 minutes when Applejack was sure everypony was asleep, she turned off the lamp and began to drift off into her own slumber.
Scootaloo shot awake in a cold sweat, quietly hyperventilating from the horrible nightmare she just had. She had just relived the events of that night, but this time when Applejack shut the door behind them, her face had horribly contorted into the creature. Scootaloo looked around, noticing the sleeping crusaders next to her, and sighed in relief. She got up from the little pillow fort, deciding to get a glass of water before heading back to bed.
When she had the glass up to her muzzle and she started to sip, she heard a quiet "Pssssst" coming from just outside. At first she thought it was just some cicada, until it got louder, and she looked out the window to see Applejack peaking through. "Hey, c'mere. I wanna talk to you." Applejack half whispered "Come outside so we don't wake anypony else." Scootaloo was confused, as Applejack would probably have waited until morning to say something. That is, unless it was super important or secret and nopony else could hear it. Scootaloo got a bit worried about what was gonna be told to her as she trotted to the door.
When she got closer, she glanced back into the kitchen and felt her heart drop. Applejack was still asleep on the couch and hadn't moved a muscle. Scoot looked back at the window and saw Applejack looking through, and that's when everything began to fall apart. Her eyes were a little too wide, her smile was a little too wide, and she seemed a little taller than usual. Then it called out again. "What are ya waitin' for? Come out, wouldn't wanna wake anypony up, would ya?" It sounded the way Sweetie Belle's voice did earlier, like something trying to mimic Applejack's voice, except rather than sounding like an animal, it just sounded slightly off. The range was just too small, and the deeper parts of her voice were just a bit too deep, but most damning of all was the fact that while Applejack spoke, she could hear a raspy whisper saying everything she said at the same time.
Scootaloo backed away from the figure in the window, which then had it's face contort into a hateful grimace, and it then began whispering louder, making the facade of the voice falter more and more, getting raspier and more like a growling animal than a voice. It kept repeating the same things over and over; "Come out" "C'mere" "Come outside". Scootaloo looked at the face in the window and noticed it slowly shifting, the green of her eyes becoming more and more of that abyssal black from before. Scootaloo ran to the little fort and hid under the blanket, doing her best not to wake anypony up. She sat there, shaking with her hooves over her head, doing her best to ignore the voice whisper-shouting outside the door.
Eventually, it came to a stop, and she heard rapid footsteps as it ran away. After what felt like forever, Scootaloo summoned all the courage needed to look out the window. It was sunrise. She walked back over to the window from before and looked at the ground in front of it. Just as she feared, there was a set of four hoofprints standing right where the fake Applejack stood, and as she followed the trail that ran into the woods, she noticed the spacing between them get larger and larger. Once she was looking at the treeline they led to, she could've sworn she saw a white figure duck just out of sight. She got away from the window and decided to just sit at the dining room table until the others woke up.
In the morning, Rarity came by to pick up Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo went on her own way home. Though, Apple Bloom couldn't help but notice how shaken up the pegasus friend looked, but figured she would worry about it during school the next day. Once everypony went home, she trotted on over to the crusader clubhouse, and took a look around at the map from last night's journey next to the wooden planks the group accidentally left behind. The trip didn't go exactly as planned and nearly cost them their lives, but Apple Bloom's curiosity was too strong to quench, so she just had to try and find answers. What was up with that house in the woods? Why was the fool's foal attracted to it? what other things were hiding out in the forest? She picked up one of the books that Scootaloo had brought and began to flip through it. Reading up on this thing wouldn't hurt, right?
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trippy scenario, but it was good
Great way to start.