> Clubhouse of Horror > by Grenazers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Ch 1: The Nightmare Begins > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a cold night at Sweet Apple Acres, Celestia's warm sun has vanish over the horizon and now Luna's moon rises high in the night sky. Her moon was the only source of light during the night, like the sun the moon serves to provide their subjects a source of light in a otherwise darken land. The big red earth pony named Big Macintosh was walking around the orchard during this cool night. Normally the red stallion wouldn't be here at night, but he is out here for a reason. His littlest sister Applebloom and her two two friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are all at the their little clubhouse. Big Mac sigh blissfully of the remembering that old clubhouse. He remembered building that thing for his other little sister Applejack. Now it looks like it has passed down to little Applebloom. The red stallion finally reached his destination, the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. As he was about to knock on their door and telling them it's time to go home, he heard some of them talking. Now while Mac was never the type to eavesdrop on somepony, in this case with the crusader and their crazy antics he has prepare for whatever damage they may cause. Inside the clubhouse the three crusaders are huddled together at the center with blankets covering them from the cold. Around them the girls has light up some candles on side for light source. "Alright girls ya ready for this?" asked a feminine southern voice. "Applebloom, I've been ready for this since yesterday!" exclaimed a young enthusiastic voice. "I still don't get why we have to do this at night" said a soft nice voice. "Come on Sweetie Belle this is a perfect situation for it" reply the same enthusiastic voice. "Scootaloo right, what better way for this to work then this?" said Applebloom. "Besides don't you want to see if get our cutie mark for this?" ask the orange pegasus. "Well alright, but it better not be long" Sweetie spoke "Rarity told me not to be out this late". "Don't worry Sweetie Belle, it won't take long" Applebloom assured her. "Ready?" ask Scootaloo, there was a pause for a moment and then... "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SCARY STORY TELLERS YAY!" The sudden high loud noise caught Big Mac off guard, resulting him losing balance and fall off the steps. Luckily there was a pile of leaves under the clubhouse softening his fall. After composing himself Mac sat under their clubhouse listen in on their conversation. Originally Mac suppose to get the girls and take them home, but he decided he wanted to hear them tell their scary stories. While he enjoys working on the farm, he rarely get time to socialized outside his family. He spends most of his time on the farm and only goes to town to gather supplies of sell their produce. In his entire life Mac only little friends and most them were ponies who offer to work on their farm or the usual customers he meets at the market. Whenever he was in the market he always like to hear ponies talk about their life, its basically his form of entertainment. So now he wants to hear his sister and her two friends tell some scary stories. Looking at his watch he saw it was 7:30, so the night is still young. "So how are we going to do this?" asked Sweetie Belle. The two other crusaders turn their heads towards her, giving her a confused look. "What do you mean how we do this?" Applebloom asked back. "Yeah Sweetie Belle we're here to tell scary stories" Scootaloo answered. "Well do you two have any stories in mind?" the little white unicorn questioned."Because I didn't bring any with me." The two were about answer, but stopped when they both realized they didn't know any scary stories. "Er well I was busy doing my chores to make one" Applebloom said making up a excuse. The little orange pegasus was trying to think up of something. She then thought of one and was about to announce it until Sweetie interfered. "It better not be that headless pony or the pony missing her horse shoe" she stated. Scootaloo then just simply close her mouth and look at the floor defeated. Sweetie Belle sighed. "No none of us brought a story along to tell" she said as she look at both Applebloom and Scootaloo, not making eye contact with her. Down below the big red stallion couldn't help but facehoove himself for the three girls failed attempt. The awkward silence last for a while until Sweetie spoke up, "Alright how bout this" she said earning the attention of her two friends. "How about we go to our corners and think up a scary story" she suggested. "Great idea Sweetie Belle" Applebloom applauded her friend. "Yeah, come on lets create some stories!" Scootaloo yelled out. "Yeah" the three said in unison and scattered to their corner to come up with a story. Meanwhile down under the structure Big Mac waited patiently for the girls to finish their stories. After half an hour of waiting Big Mac was getting restless and was about to go upstairs, until he heard some voices. "Alright gals I've done my stories" Applebloom announced. "How you two" she looked at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Almost....and done!" Scootaloo shouted and trotted to the center, where Applebloom was already sitting. "How about you Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asked. Sweetie Belle was still sitting in her corner, but after a few seconds she turned around and headed to the center. "Alright I done" Sweetie said happily. "So who goes first?" Scootaloo questioned. The three sat there at think about a solution. "Wait I have an idea" Sweetie said as she got up and trot to one of their desk. She returned back with three piece of strings. "Here's the plan I have three three strings and one of them is the shortest, who ever gets the short one goes first" she explained to her friends. "Alright then I'll go first" Scootaloo said. She picked one of the strings from the white unicorn, only to reveal to be a long strong. "Aw man" Scootaloo groan. "My turn" Applebloom got up and took a string which revealed another long string. With two strings picked that concludes that Sweetie was in possession of the short one. "Yay, I won" Sweetie said happily showing them her short string. With that settled the two pony sat and got comfortable while Sweetie prepare to tell her scary story. At the same time Big Mac got comfortable and awaited for her to speak. "Prepare girls for what I'll tell, you will haunt in your mind for the rest of your lives" Sweetie said trying to sound scary. "My scary story is called...." THE FIEND > Ch 2: The Fiend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long ago when the three tribes were not united, there was a old legend common amongst the unicorn tribe. This is the story of the Fiend. The Fiend is said to be a being with no physical form, rather just a spirit. According to the legend this spirit is a horrifying demon that possesses unicorns and make them go on a violent rampage. Once it found its target the Fiend will use the unicorn's magic and cause enough death and destruction possible before the host dies. The reason is because the demon will push the body beyond limits and until it can go no further,once done it live the body to die and travel the land seeking another host. Several facts has been found about the Fiend, that describes its characteristics. One them is the fact that it usually targets young unicorns who are starting to learn magic. The reason is that children are more easier to control then most adult unicorns. Once it chosen its target the Fiend is said to lay dormant inside the young unicorn until it start learning to use magic. During this stage the host will show symptoms such as increase in magical performance, more violent, and paranoia. To defend against this the unicorns train their young, not in strength but in the mind. The legend said that the Fiend will slowly try to influence the child over a couple of years, drastically changing them. However if the unicorn's mind are strong the creature will eventually get tire of it and leave. This training went for many years, but eventually as time passed many unicorns started to forget about the spirit and most just assume it's just a myth. Soon a majority of them stop training their minds and went on with their life. Only few actually do it and it was done mostly for traditions. For many centuries there has been no indecent involving the Fiend, which then fade out into obscurity. That is until the tragic event in Manehattan. The Great Manehattan Fire was one of the most tragic event in history. The fire was massive and fierce, it took the firefighters three days to finally vanquished the flames. The aftermath was terrible, huge portions of the city was destroyed and a estimate loss of life is over a thousand. To this day it still remains a mystery of how this fire started. Some say that it was merely an accident, others believed it was an attack by foreign enemies. While many ponies came up with their own version, one them involved a long forgotten legend. This is their story, A few years ago before the incident there was young unicorn colt named Wind Song Wind Song comes from a typical family with a mom and a dad. Both of his parents were overachievers and as such expect their child to do the same. At a young age the little colt was showing incredible magic capability, making him into prodigy. As time pass and the colt grew up, his whole personally and attitude changed. Before he was quiet and nice, now he was aggressive and spiteful. It also didn't help that his parents were strict and pushed him to his limits, of the fact that he was the envy of his peers who resents the stallion. Finally after all the years of of abuse and mistreatment he finally snapped. One day Wind Song came back home with poor grades, as expected his parents were not too pleased. During their heated argument the young stallion lifted his father up with his magic and lit him on fire. His father screamed in agony while his wife watched in shock. Once done with him Wind Song did the same with his mother, but instead her burn to death. The sound of screaming and the smell of smoke alerted the neighbors to call in the fire department and the police. By the time both department reached the area, they were confronted with something shocking. The entire neighborhood was on fire. Houses were set a blaze and ponies were screaming and running as they were on fire. Then out came from the burning inferno stood a lone unicorn with white glowing eyes and a wicked smile on his mouth. One of the fire fighter upon seeing him rushed in to save him. As he got closer though he suddenly combusted into flames, soon after the rest of the fire fighters and police combusted into flame as well. So for a long night Wind Song set anything he see on fire. Building erupted in flames, trees and plants were incinerated, and ponies were consumed by the fire. As he continued his onslaught, his body was starting to weakened as indicated by his sluggish movements. Eventually he stopped in his tracks and simply fell on the hard concrete floor, laying their in incredible pain that soon disappeared with the sweet embrace of death. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "To this day nopony ever found out the cause of the Great Manehattan Fire" Sweetie spoke in dark menacing voice while holding a flashlight below her face. "And as such the legend of the Fiend soon began to reemerged itself and rumor has it if say 'fiend three times in front of mirror in the dark. The fiend will appear and posses you!" Both fillies across Sweetie were holding each other while shaking. Then something clicked inside Applebloom's head. "Wait a second Sweetie Belle" the yellow filly spoke up. "We learned history the other day in class and Miss Cheerliee never mention any Great Manehattan Fire". "Well of course Applebloom, it's just a story." the white filly stated "It doesn't have to be real". "Oh" Applebloom said then quickly turning around. "I gotta change something quickly". After a couple of minutes of readjustment Applebloom rejoined the two at the center. "Alright, who goes next" Sweetie asked her two friends. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each for a moment and thought about something. "Ready?, one two three first!" Scootaloo yelled at the last part. "Then it's settle Scootaloo is next" Sweetie announced. "Hey! wait a gosh darn minute, what the hay was that" Applebloom pointed her hoof at the orange filly. "What?, we decided the one two three rule when ever we can't reach an agreement" Scootaloo pointed out. "But-" she wanted to say something, but realized that they did made that a rule for their club and because that is the rule she must obey it. "Oh fine" she crossed her arm and pouted. Scootaloo then grabbed the flashlight from Sweetie Belle and held it below her face. "Now it's my turn" she said in a menacing voice. "My story is about a lone pegasus that got separated from his flock and found himself in lost in strange new world, and dangerous world with.... Red Sky > Ch 3: Red Sky > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The flock, a term alien to both the earth and unicorn, but very familiar amongst the pegasus ponies. The flock is a common word used among their kind, it's basically a group mentality where every pegasus must contribute to the group and in return the group will keep you safe and secured. As a group the pegasus established rules that everypony must follow. One of these rules is to never stray too far away from the flock. This was taught upon the young colts and fillies of the group, they were warned that if you stray to far the flock the Black Beast will take them away. The Black Beast is described as a large winged creature with a beak so sharp it could pierce through mountains. The monster also had two sharp talons which is used to catch helpless preys, like the name says the creature has black fur , the only other color besides the black are his two red eyes. This story has been passed down from generation to generation and each time always frighten the children. Even the adults fear this story and while some hardly believe the creature exist, most them wouldn't dare leave the safety of the flock. There was however one mare who didn't share their view. This young mare is named Radiant Dawn. When she was little Dawn believed in the story of the black beast, but as she grew older she started to get less scared of this myth. She thinks that the black beast is just a hoax, and fairy tale to keep young children in line. Because of her attitude, it sparked numerous conflict with members of her flock. She would usually argue with them about not following the rules or not doing the proper procedures of something. Dawn eventually became an outcast among her group, while still in many ponies tend to avoid her, less her personality will rub off them. Then one day Radiant Dawn was having a huge argument with her parents, harsh words were exchange. Then when the argument stopped Dawn bolted out of the house and flew off somewhere, away from the flock. After a couple of minutes of flying the pegasus stopped and landed on a cloud. This wasn't the first time she flew off like this, in the past when ever she was mad she just needed to be far away as possible. She does this so she vent off her anger with nopony around. After doing her venting she realized how tiring she was and decided to take a quick rest on the soft cloud she was on. Soon her quick rest turn into a long slumber as her eyes were getting heavy and closed. When the Radiant Dawn started to wake up she notice it was dark, she theorized that it was night time. However her theory was proven wrong when she opened her eyes wide. The first thing notice was the sky. The once beautiful and bright blue sky has been replaced with a bright, eerie red. Its as if the sky has been stabbed and the blood soon spread, tainting the brilliant blue sky with blood red. As she looked up she noticed that wasn't a sun in the sky, this was odd since the sky was bright enough to see. She then took a look on the cloud she was on, gone was the white color of the cloud instead replaced with the color black. But what really scared was when she looked from her cloud. Down on earth was nothing but blackness, this black shadow covered the land from far and wide. Once there was many sight to be seen from the skies. Forest, mountains, oceans, villages, and many more were gone,all gone. Swallowed up by the black abyss below. Then her instinct started to kick in and she decides to fly back to the flock. This was a common thing taught for the young pegasus, when ever they feel that they are in danger fly back to the safety of the flock. Unfortunately Dawn couldn't find her flock, in fact she didn't see any other living creatures. No birds and no bugs were seen or heard. There was even any wind blowing in the sky. Where ever she was, she is definitely not in Equestria anymore. And yet despite the feeling of isolation she still feel that someone was watching her. She thinks there is something down at the bottom watching her. She thought about exploring the dark ground, but dismisses it out of fear of being swallowed up by the abyss. So with nothing else to do Dawn flew around aimlessly, in hopes to find something. Half an hour of flying the young pegasus was starting to slow down from exhaustion. Then suddenly she a sudden sound of wind from below, when she looked down she a big black blur speeding towards her. Dawn reacted quickly and dashed to the sides. Something huge flew pass her and she got a clear view of her assailant. Her eyes widen on laying her sight on the creature, it was big, black, red eyes, two talons,two large wings, and a long spear like beak. It was the black beast! she said to herself, it was real! The beast quickly turn and dashed towards the shocked pegasus. Upon seeing it dash at her brought the mare out of her shock state and evaded his attack. When she turned around the beast was gone, confused Dawn quickly looked around. The beast was nowhere in sight. Continuing on Dawn kept flying aimlessly. Occasionally she would encounter the black beast again but again she evaded it and it disappeared. This went on for many hours, Dawn was getting tired. She wanted to rest but feared that he will come and attacker her. Her condition are starting to get worse due the lack of sleep and rest, her mind wandered, not focusing. There were also scars from the previous beast attack and without bandages she was losing blood. Despite all this the pegasus couldn't care. She was tired, she wanted it to end, and the only she can get this is from that beast. During her time here, Dawn thought long and hard and she came to a conclusion. There was no escape, simple as that. She flew endlessly and she no further escaping then she was at the beginning. She's given up, there was no escaping this hell. She could always continue evading the beast, but for how long? All she'll be doing is torturing herself with her pointless attempt to escape the monster, instead she should've just let it killed her in the first place. Death will be her only escape now. With that resolved Dawn stopped in flight and stood there. Then she heard the noise of the approaching beast flying towards her. The pegasus simply closed her eyes and think happy thoughts, she remembered all the happy time she was as a child. Hanging with her friends, playing games, and spending time with her parents. A small smile appeared on her face and tears emerged from her closed eyes. Then in instant she gone, the black beast pierced her small body with his razor sharp beak. The impact was sudden and quick, Dawn died instantly. With his prey caught the large beast return back down to the abyss to enjoy his meal, while awaiting his next prey. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The End" Scootaloo finished. The two other fillies stared with mouth opened. Seconds later both of them spoke up. "That was amazing! , Scootaloo" Applebloom praised her orange friend. "Yeah Scootaloo, great story" Sweetie Belle said also praising her friend. Scootaloo then turned her head and look at her rear. "Aw, man" the orange filly moan. "I didn't get my Cutie Mark". Sweetie Belle then realized she forgot to check her flank. She gave the same response as Scootaloo upon seeing no mark. Applebloom then took the flashlight from Scootaloo. "Alright gals, It's my turned to tell a scary story". She then put the flashlight below her face. "Now prepare, for what I'm about to tell is a true story" the yellow filly said in low voice. "Long ago when my granny was just a filly like me, one of her cousin from afar lived with her family for a bit until she mysteriously vanished" she continued. "This is the story of Ginger Gold and the ... The Stranger > Ch 4: The Stranger > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long ago when Granny Smith was just filly, she was living in Sweet Apple Acres with her ma, pa, and her two older brothers. The farm was muck smaller backed then, compared to the large farm in the present. Still, her family grew crops, harvest them, and sold them in the nearby settlement of Ponyville. Then one day Granny Smith's dad got a letter from his brother. The content of the letter explained that his brother is facing some financial problem and won't be able to take care of his daughter Ginger Gold. So because of it she is sending her to him, to take care of. Her dad was surprised by the letter from his brother. He hasn't seen of heard word from his brother for a long time and now suddenly he's dropping his daughter to him. Done with the letter the father decides to inform the rest of his family. After telling his family about the letter, he received mix messages from them. Granny Smith was eager and excited to meet her cousin, her two brothers were neutral about the news, and her mother was angry about it. She told her husband that they already have enough children to take care of and that they don't need another mouth to feed. The father argued that they're family, and family stick together. The two them argued for a while until the stallion managed to convince his wife. A week later both Granny Smith and her dad were standing at the entrance of their farm. The two of them were awaiting for the arrival of Ginger Gold. After a few minutes of waiting they spotted a stagecoach approaching them. It stopped and the side door opened, revealing a yellow filly with orange mane. The two apple family member greeted and welcomed Ginger to their home. They exchange pleasantry and trotted her to their home. Granny was talking to Ginger about all the cool stuff they can do together. While the green filly was rambling on the yellow one was looking around. As they entered the house Ginger was introduced to the rest of the family and was told that she would be sharing a room with Granny. So after showing her around the house and farm, it was dinner time and they gather around the table to eat. While there each of the family asked Ginger about her personal life. They asked how she was, how her grades were and all that usual stuff. However, she seems nervous around the questions of her parents. She usually response by giving them short and vague answers, and other times tries to change the subject. Weeks go by and Ginger was already getting used to living in Sweet Apple Acres, the rest of the family eventually warmed up to her and see her as a new family member. Out of all of them Granny was the most happiest, now she had someone like her to play and talk with. The two of them formed a bond and they were the best of friends. But then, things started to get weird. When ever Granny Smith was with Ginger Gold she gets a sense that somepony was watching them. Then one day when she was working the field with Ginger, she thought she saw a silhouette of a pony outside their farm. As days go by Granny continued seeing the the stranger as she started calling him, was getting closer and closer. As the stranger got closer Granny was able to make out some characteristics of the guy. At first she thought he had a black coat and was wearing a white mask, as he drew closer he was actually wearing a black suit with thin vertical red lines. She was correct of the white mask thought. She ask Ginger is she seen the stranger, and her response was just to ignore him. This only raised further question, in which her cousin refused to talk about. Smith decided to tell her parents about it and her father plans to meet this stranger. The next day Smith, Ginger, and the father worked together on one side of the field. Then Smith spotted the stranger, she pointed it out for her dad and he instantly trotted towards him. Smith watch from afar with Ginger and saw her father approaching the stranger. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she guess he was telling him to stay away from his family. Then Smith' father was levitated and tossed to the ground, the stranger then turned and trotted away. Seeing her father hurt, the young Granny Smith rushed out to check on him. As she got closer to him, he was already getting up. The father explained that the stranger was using some kind of magic despite having no horn. He used to strangle him and tossed to the soft ground. However, before he left, the unknown pony told him that Ginger owe him something and he is here to claimed it. Figuring that Ginger is involved the father decides to confront his niece. When both him and his daughter reached the house, they caught Ginger trying to escape. They both caught her and made her explained what the stranger want from her. Under pressure Ginger told her that her family needed money, so her father got money from some shady pony. In exchange for the loan her father must repay the same amount of money in returned. So at first they were well off, until the day they have to repay. Sadly her father didn't have the money, and for it he was killed. Her mother was next and she died horribly, they would've gotten her too but she escaped. She thought she could hide from them, but now he track her here and as long she stays here, the apple family will be in danger. The yellow filly was expecting them to kick her out, but instead she got a hug from the mother. She told her that everything will be alright and that they won't let the bad man get her. Surprised by this act of kindness Ginger openly wept in her embrace. The next day the apple family prepare for the arrival of the stranger. The father called in a few favors from the ponies in town and they lend their hoof to help him out. The rest of the family are hiding in the barricade house and Smith was watching through the window on the second floor. Then the sun set and the stranger appeared. From her view from the window she saw her dad and his friends approach the stranger. He demanded for his niece and he responded by not only telling him no, but to also never come back here. They both stared at each for a minute then the stranger made his move. He pushed him back using his unknown magic, sending him to a wall of a barn. With the first attack, the rest of the ponies began charging at the stranger. The lone pony easily defeated the the mob, by using magic or simple hoof to hoof combat. This battle was one sided as the stranger barely broken a sweat from fighting the onslaught of ponies. Soon he defeated all the mob and trotted to the house. Using his magic he easily shattered the wooden barricades. With the door gone Smith's mother told her and Ginger to run while she and her two sons hold him off. Smith wanted to argue but realized that she'll need to protect Ginger from the stallion. Both her and Ginger sneak out the window and ran for the town. The both of them managed to left the farm, but when they thought they were in the clear the stranger appeared in front of them. Smith got in front of her cousin, to defend her. She told him to leave her innocent cousin alone. Then stallion just laugh, confusing the little filly. The stranger explained that she doesn't know her cousin that yell and that she is using her. Smith was about to call out on his lies, but Ginger interrupted her. She told Smith that she hasn't been totally honest with her and decides to tell her the true story. Ginger told her she was born in abusive household, her father was a bitter drunk who hit her and her mother was just as worse as him. Years of mistreatment has bottled up inside her, made really angry and wished her parents are dead. Then he appeared, the stallion in the black and red striped suit. He offered to take care of her parents, but in exchange he want something in returned. The thing he wanted is the heart of young child. She of course accepted the deal and the stallion murdered both of her parents. One the deed has been done the stranger told Ginger she had one month to repay him. So after that day Ginger plotted how she could obtain a child's heart. She then remembered the relatives she had, the apple family. She knew that they had a young daughter and is the perfect choice for her deal. So her plan was to stay with the family for a bit and befriend the green filly, earn her trust and take her heart. Things at first was going as planned, unfortunately she was caught off guard by their friendly demeanor. She never experience such kindness before and soon warm up to them, she was having such a good time that she forgotten all about the deal. With her story done the young Granny Smith was shocked by her cousin's revelation. Ginger told her that her family has been good to her, but now she has to repay the debt. The little yellow filly approached the masked stallion and offered her heart. The stallion didn't say anything and just raised his right hoof. He then shoved his hoof into her chest and pulled out a beating red heart. Ginger fell down to the ground and Smith rushed to her side. With the deal done, he had no reason to stay and then he just trotted away leaving the green filly to cry for her dead cousin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And that was the last time Granny ever saw the stranger" Applebloom said in low menacing voice. "Wait, if this guy could use magic why doesn't he just simply teleport to where she was?" Scootaloo questioned. "Yeah, also why does it want heart?" Sweetie asked next. "Look girls it doesn't matter, it just a story" the yellow filly explained. "Still doesn't cover up some of the plot holes" "Oh and you're stories were any better!" While the three crusaders were arguing, just below Big Mac was shaken in fear from hearing those stories, then he felt a hoof touching his shoulder. "Boo" The red stallion jumped upon hearing that word. Shortly after he heard laughing. "Oh man that was hilarious" Rainbow Dash laughed. "Dash, leave poor Big Mac alone" Rarity scolded her cyan friend. "I apologize for my friend rude behavior". The red pony simply nodded to the white unicorn. Once done laughing Dash flew next to door of the clubhouse. "Are the girls in here?" she asked and the stallion replied "Eeyup" The blue pegasus then knocked on door and told Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle it was time to head back home. The two fillies left the clubhouse and left with their escorts, leaving Big Mac with his little sister. "Well I guess we should head home" Applebloom stated and headed towards their house with Big Mac following from behind. Later that night all the ponies at Sweet Apple Acres were sleeping peacefully in their beds, all except for a certain stallion. He tossed and turn having nightmare of her little sister and friends tale. For the next couple of days Big Mac won't be having any restful night for him in a while.