After being challenged at school the cutie mark crusaders, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon are off to a supposedly haunted mansion to see who can stay there the longest. Little do they know none of them could leave if they tried.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon said that they could stay in an abandon mansion longer then Appleblom, Sweetie Belle, and I. I don't really want to go in there but I just can't stand their smug attitudes. So we agreed, and my friends made a plan to sneak out and meet up with the two of them at the front gate. I have a really bad feeling about this, but I don't want to bail on my friends, so I'll put aside my fear and go into the mansion to prove Diamond Tiara wrong and show we are braver. I mean after all it's only one night right? How bad could it really be...
As the first rays of sunlight came down from the sky above all I could think was, 'oh no, it can't be morning already, I just lied down'. Unfortunately it was morning, another night of restlessly rolling all around trying to get comfortable in this brick the orphanage calls a bed. It is almost impossible, and if I did get to bed then I had the nightmares to look forward to. Every night for the past three weeks I've only been able to get a few good hours of sleep. Most of the dreams consist of me getting lost in the woods at night being chased by this big... thing. It is seven feet tall, has razor sharp teeth, blood red eyes, black fur all over it's body, and a howl that will make your soul die. Other nightmares include Rainbow Dash rejecting me as her sister, me getting buried alive, Pinkie Pie going on a killing rampage, the list goes on. The dream I had a few nights ago was the worst, after Rainbow rejected me as her sister the beast rips her apart and in sadness Pinkie goes on a killing spree and it ends with her burring me alive. It makes sense that I can't sleep, I think it's a combination of the bad beds and the fact that the only decent meal I get all day is lunch at school. They really treat us like dirt here, I've thought about moving in with Applebloom because she has started to notice a change in me but that requires me admitting that I live in an orphanage and I don't think I can do that. Well it's almost seven I'd better be heading off to school, I don't want to be late for the sixteenth time. I raced down the stairs, grabbed a slice of bread, jumped on my scooter and flew off at top speeds towards the school. I was about two minutes out when I heard the first bell, 'good I have five minutes until class starts', and then just like every other time this week my tired eyes closed and I woke up twenty minutes later upside-down and people looking at me to see if I was alright. I quickly got and rode off hoping the second bell hadn't rung yet. As I pulled up to the school I could see that class was already in progress, I went and tried the back door to see if I could sneak into class, but it was locked. I sighed as I knew what was coming next. The door to the classroom opened and everyone went silent as they turned and looked at me.
"Well look who's late again" Diamond Tiara said snootily.
I walked up to the front of the class "Sorry Miss Cheerilee I over slept, again."
"I'm sorry Schootaloo but you've been late too many times recently. I'm afraid that your going to have to stay after class for one hour." she replied in a disappointed tone.
"Yes Ma'am." I walked back to my seat and sat down, I didn't look up all class. I couldn't bare to see that look on her face again, it made me feel so bad.
As class came to a close and everypony else got up and left, I heard Applebloom and Sweetie Belle say that they would wait for me outside but I told them to go and that I would meet up with them later. As I sat there alone in the classroom all I could think of was how much I had failed. As I sat there, I tried not to, but I feel asleep and started to dream. I was in the class room but everypony around me was laughing and telling me that I was no good, that I would never get my cutie mark and I would forever be a laughing stock. That's when Miss Cheerilee told me I was expelled and that I would only be able to live as the town fool. I tried to run away but when I got to the door I couldn't open it and Rainbow Dash was there and said 'look she's so stupid she can't even open the door' and everpony was laughing and then they started throwing things at me and I could do was curl up in a ball and cry. Then I woke up eyes flowing with tears and Miss Cheerilee asking what was wrong, I couldn't speak, I just got up and ran out of there. I jumped on my scooter and just rode off, not even knowing where I was going. When I finally stopped I was by my favorite tree, you always seem to get to where you need to be when your sad, I climbed up into the tree and just sat there for hours just looking out over town and just crying. I know it was just a dream but it felt so real, I could feel them throwing things at me, I could feel the door knob not working beneath my hooves. I just couldn't seem to calm down, then I heard:
"Hey Scootaloo! Yall up there?"
I looked down to see Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looking up concerned. "Yeah I just, uh, want to come here and relax before meeting up with you guys." I lied.
"Ah see. After ya didn't show, we went down to see if you were still at school. Miss Cheerilee said you ran off cryin and we figured that this is where'd you be."
"Oh so you know..."
"Come on Scootaloo you can tell us what's wrong." Sweetie Belle piped up.
I didn't really want to but I could feel the tears coming again, I sighed and told them a best I could about what's been happening to me and where I live and why I ran out of there crying. After I had finished they just sat there dumbfounded, they couldn't believe what I had just told them. After a long period of silence Applebloom said:
"Well if you want you can come live with me, Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith."
"Yeah or Rarity and I if you wish." Sweetie Belle added.
"You mean it? Thanks guy's it means a lot." I replied, I was looking forward to a good meal and a long night's rest.
Three weeks later
I had been staying with the Apple's for just over two week's it was amazing, they treated me like one of their own. Just as I thought the night mares had stopped and I was actually starting to grow a bit now that I wasn't malnourished any more I felt like I had finally found a place to call my own. My school has been better then ever and I was doing so much better on my flying lessons with Rainbow Dash, I still couldn't get of the ground but I could at least glide. Every thing in my life was perfect.
I woke up to the rays of sunlight dancing across my face as it rose over the hills and poured into the window of the bedroom Applebloom and I shared. Ugh I thought, I still was not a morning person, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but I knew with in a few minutes;
"Come on girls, breakfast is ready, get up of you'll be late for school." Applejack shouted up the stairs.
"Ugh" I uttered as I sat up with a groggily expression. I looked over and saw Applebloom sit up with the same look. "How does your sister get up this early everyday?"
"Ah don't know." my sleepy yellow friend replied. as she rolled out of bed and started doing her hair.
We trudged down stairs and ate our breakfast's and the we walked to school. The brisk spring breeze quickly shook of any emotion of tiredness I felt. I looked around and could see the sun glistening off all the drops of dew on the grass and in the trees and it gave everything a golden glow as we walked down to the school house. They day went as it had for a while, we learned things that we probably will never need again (fractions are evil), and then the day ended as we went it to the yard to play before we headed back to do some crusading. But then I heard Diamond Tiara flapping her gums about how brave she is and that she is braver then anyone in the school, Applebloom heard her too and said:
"Oh yeah? I bet I'm so much braver then you that you'd cry after hearin the news." it wasn't a very good retort but Sweetie Belle and I still had her back.
"Really? Did you stand inside Alucard Manor like I did? I think not."
"Oh you did, did you? Well I bet you didn't even get up to the gate." Sweetie Belle sassed.
"I did, I walked up and went right in. I was there for two hours, got bored and left. All in one piece."
"Oh yeah? Well I bet you wouldn't be able to out last the three of us if we were up there." Applebloom said, and after seeing the concerned look on Diamond's face she added, "You've already been there once so why not head back?"
Diamond Tiara swallowed and said "Fine you on. But why limit it to just us, I say anyone who want's to can come and the pony who stay's the longest will get the honorary title bravest pony."
All the other kids seemed to like this idea and that's when Applebloom said "Alrighty then at sun down we will all meet at the front gates and head up together. Just tell your parents that your sleeping over a friends house."
"Wait up Applebloom I can't keep up!" Sweetie Belle shouted after us.
"Then maybe you should've packed less stuff." Applebloom replied.
"I still don't think this is a good Idea you guys." I said nervously.
"Ah ain't to fund of neither but we can't let Diamond Tiara win, we don't have to stay here all night we just have to stay longer than her." Applebloom said but I was still unconvinced.
As we got up the large metal gate of Alucard Manor I could just feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I knew this was a bad Idea. I could see the large mansion off in the distance and it looked like a giant grey wooden mountain that just loomed over the ground. Even though the sun was setting it looked as though no more than a few beams of light could get through to the area where the house was, it was old, dark, and dry. All the trees surrounding had since lost all their leaves and they lay scattered across the property like no one had cared for the grounds in over a hundred years. The mansion itself was in good condition and besides a few cobwebs it didn't look to bad from here. Applebloom and I had gone to the library and looked up it's blue prints to be better prepared for when we go inside, it is huge! It covers thirteen million square-feet! It has five floors above ground, a basement, an underground tunnel system, a court yard, and at least ten smaller buildings outside of the main building. The only way into the smaller building is is through the underground tunnel's and there is only one door into the main building itself. All the widow's on the first floor have been boarded up and bared on the outside. It really would be a cool place to live if you fixed it up a bit, but to know that we are going in there at night with only a few flash lights and some snacks is just a terrifying thought. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong and that I wasn't going to be all right. As we sat and looked at the mansion other people started to show up to prove they were the bravest pony in the class. Snips and Snails were there, along with a few others, we all were trying to play it cool like we weren't all scared out of our minds.
"Well well, I didn't think you three babies would even show." Diamond Tiara said as she came from what seemed like out of nowhere.
"Yeah we're here, I'm surprised you didn't pay someone else to show up for you." Applebloom retorted back.
"Well then what are we waiting for lets get in there." Diamond said very full of herself.
"Fine, after you." Applebloom motioned toward's the mansion with her hooves.
And so with twelve of us in total we all made our way up to the mansions front and only outside doors. On the door was a large pony head shaped knockers with rings in their teeth, we pushed the doors open and saw the main hall, it was a large open room with a double stairwell that spiraled down the sides of the room that lead up to the second level, in between the stairs was a hall that took you down to the rest of the first floor. If you followed the second floor to the end there was a spiral stair case that took you up to levels three, four, and five. In the center of halls was an automated lift that would take you up to all five levels and down to the basement, from the basement there was a door that lead you to tunnels. Each floor themselves are multi-hallway and are very confusing to navigate through In the center of the mansion there was the large rectangular court yard that was in as bad of shape as the rest of the grounds. The general shape of the mansion is like a big plus sign that connected at the corners to make also like a box. There was also a tower as one of the other building that the tunnels connected to, it was the tallest part of the whole complex standing a full ten floors above ground level. The whole complex itself was essentially a maze and now that she was inside it she didn't think it would make a good house no matter how you fixed it up, it was just too big and too confusing to navigate. As I watched the sun set and then the doors close I had that really bad feeling again, but I wasn't going to be the first one to bail and look like a coward.
As the hours passed people gradually left the dinning hall that we had chosen to hold up in. Someponys were leaving to go home and other would leave to explore, come back get there stuff and then go running out of the building. Personally it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was mostly just sitting around in a dark room talking to my friends, it was kind of like a sleep over. Now it was just Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and I and I was starting to get bored. Silver Spoon said good buy and got up and walked out of the room. Moments later we all heard her scream and went running out to see what was wrong, we saw as soon as we came around the bend, there lying in a pool of blood was Twist's headless corpse. I heard them scream, I myself was in shook, who could have killed Twist? Applebloom fell over crying at the loss of her friends and Diamond Tiara screamed out:
"That's it I don't care any more I'm getting out of here."
"Me too." shouted Silver Spoon. And the two ripped off for the exit.
"Come on Applebloom. We'll get the police down here and they'll find who ever did this." Sweetie Belle said comfortingly.
As we walked to the exit making sure to watch our backs we were still in shook. We got to the main hall and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon trying to open the door. The three of us came over and pulled on the door all together and we were able to force it open. We stared in disbelief as in front of us was nothing more then another hall way.
"Wha? But but, this is where we came in." I said in a shaky and disbelieving tone.
"That don't make any sense," Applebloom said scratching her head. "Maybe the exit is down at the end of this hall way."
"We can't just run around aimlessly all night looking for the exit, at least not with a murderer in the mansion." Silver Spoon said flusteredly .
"Well we ain't got much of a choice now do we. Come on lets see where this leads." red haired pony claimed as she walked slowly into the new hallway.
Normally we would have been more upset that our friend was dead but right now all that mattered was that we didn't end up like her. That also brought up the questions as if anyone else had been killed, and if anyone else had gotten lost on the way out. I just kept looking around and thinking to my self that this couldn't be happening and that we weren't lost in a maze of a mansion with a killer. I was hoping that this was another nightmare and that I was going to wake up in that brick of a bed back at the orphanage, or that I had too much sugar and I will wake up in Appleblooms bedroom and just need to vomit. All I could do was hope. We got to the end of the hall and saw two big double doors.
"Alright here we go." Applebloom said and pushed them open.
There we stood directly beck in the same lobby that we had just left. I sat down and began to cry not knowing what else to do and at the loss of my friend. The doors closed automatically behind us with a loud bang separating us from Silver Spoon and the other hallway. Diamond Tiara and Applebloom opened the door again to see that Silver spoon was no longer there and that it one of the fourth floor hallways. The four of us walked into the hallway and looked around to see that it really was the fourth floor we heard the door close and say that it was just a closet door. We experimented with the other doors to see if they did similar things and they did not it seemed as though only the front door was capable of putting you randomly somewhere in the house. So we moved cautiously through the house back to the stairs and back down to the first floor. As we sat there waiting for Silver Spoon to find her way back we all talked about how we could escape, and we decided to go up to the second floor and go out through a window.
After sitting for two hours, we decided that we had to move or else we wouldn't have another chance. The four of us made are way up the stairs in the main hall and into one of the rooms, It was a small guest room and it had been clearly used to have been a hospital patient room. That makes sense because before Alucard bought the property and turned it into his mansion it used to be a hospital that specialized in lobotomy's. That's why people never liked to visit this place and people believe that is also why Alucard eventually disappeared. He mostly used it as a hotel like complex and lived in one of the smaller buildings. I have heard just about every rummer about this place there was. So now we are all in the room and we close the door behind us, I walk over to the window and it's locked so I reach up to unlock it when a single drop of blood falls on my hoof. I looked at it and then looked up to where it fell from and saw a jawless, bald, thing with soulless eyes. I backed up and froze as it dropped down and started to move toward me on two legs, it reached its arms out at me and it let out the most inhuman sound I have ever heard and we just all screamed and ran, and this thing ran after us. As we ran out of the room and down the hall we could hear this thing gaining on us and then suddenly it just stopped and stood there listening, then it turned and ran into an open room and we couldn't hear it anymore.
As we stood there trying to catch our breath we could hear a distant sound of something being dragged. We all calmed down and looked in the direction of the strange sound, it sounded like it was getting closer. Then at the end of the hallway was the same kind of thing again but larger and had a metal helmet on his head that was bullet shaped and had two eye holes, he was grunting and sounded angry. As he came more around the bend I could see that he was dragging a large bloody double headed battle ax and that he was clearly coming after us. My heart sank as with a sudden burst of energy he lifted the ax into the air and ran a full speed down the hall and swung the ax. I barely had time to duck and even so I could hear the sickening sound of the ax making contact with flesh and muscle and the cracking a bone met steel. I looked and saw the ax buried deep into Diamond Tiara's collar bone and I saw as the thing pulled the ax down through her body cutting her almost completely in half vertically. I couldn't help it but I turned and barfed all over the floor. Then I saw the thing winding up for another attack and my legs just felt like jelly. Then in a burst of adrenalin I jumped forward and kicked the thing right in the stomach, not excepting this it dropped the ax in surprise and we took of running. We didn't know where we were running to but we just ran.
By the time we finally stopped we had put lots of distance between it and us. we just kept breathing heavily and kept saying how surprised we where that we were alive. Then we started taking about an escape plan again. Our plan this time was to go and try the other buildings to see if there was any other way to get out of the building, seeing as the front door was hexed and the windows were guarded by those littler things. it seemed like that maybe you can't escape to keep those things in. Maybe Alucard had put up the curse so that nothing could get out once it's inside. At any rate their only chance was to at least try the other buildings to see if there was a way, and in order to do that they would have to get to the tunnels. So after Applebloom and Sweetie Belle felt ready we made our way slowly and quietly back to the lift. Once there we piled inside and descended down into the basement level. We stepped out and made sure it was clear on all sides and then we moved into the center of the basement. In the basement there was a blackboard, some chairs, and a table as this had been where the doctors had their lounge. Sweetie Belle started to cry when she saw what it said on the blackboard. In calk it read as though it was a memo for the doctors.
New Patient Arrivals: Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. Estimated healing time eternity
In addition to this all the other names of everypony else who was there was written with a slash through their names. And as I looked at the board a sensation of just pure helplessness just washed over me and I knew there would be know way out. Then I shook of the feeling and say come on and we move over and head down into the tunnels.
I kicked in the door of the seventh building we had checked, just like the others, it had no windows and no doors except the one had come through. Only this one had the added bonus of not having any grotesque monsters in it. Just like the other building's we searched around for anything that could be useful to us later. We had already found some candles, matches, backpacks, blankets, food provisions, and one lantern. In this room we found more food, some loose pipes to use as weapons, and some loose pieces of metal that we could use as body armor to better defend ourselves but nothing else was important so we moved on. The next building we got into looked more like a house than a storage room so this must have been where Alucard lived over a hundred years ago. As we looked around I had the eerie feeling that we were being watched, so I pit my guard up and we looked around. We found some interesting things like a box of mementos, and I found a sword on display so I took that and I also found a couple of knifes that I gave to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. We were in no way good at fighting and our plan if we saw metal head again (the big thing with the ax) was to just run and hide but at least we could defend ourselves from the smaller dead things and anything that we had not run across yet. After we had thoroughly searched the room we decided it was time to leave.
The last room we came across was a small dark chamber and I was hard to see but it looked like there was some thing in the center of the room. We turned on our flash lights and pointed them all around the room until Sweetie Belle's beam fell on the face of one of the things. She screamed and jumped back and Applebloom and I trained our lights on it. This one looked different, it wasn't decaying, it had long hair, and it had a jaw. In addition it was chained up and it seemed to be blind.
"Could you please shine that stupid thing somewhere else and not in my face." the thing said grouchily.
"Oh sorry," I'm not quite sure why I apologized. "who are you you?"
"I'm just that guy hanging around in the building farthest attached from the main building, who are you?" it replied.
"I'm Scootaloo, this is Applebloom, and that's Sweetie Belle." I said and then thinking for a bit, "What are you?"
"What am I? I'm a sack of atoms that take the shape of meat, blood, bones, organs, and skin. But I suppose you were referring to the fact that I'm a different species then you. I am a human." it said sarcastically.
" A human? What's a human? Are those other things like you?" I said wanting answers.
"A human is an intelligent nearly hairless monkey that walks on two legs. And those 'things' were human once but unfortunately they all have since died. All except for Alucard and his henchman 'the decapitator'. And me of course." it said with a wolfish grin that would have made Pinkie Pie shudder.
"Alucard's still alive? but he lived here over one hundred years ago?" I was trying to wrap my head around what was happening.
"One hundred years? Is that how long it's been? Time doesn't really pass here. I've been here in this room for about six hundred years if what you tell me is true. I'm still alive!" it screamed in anger. "Doesn't matter anyway, he's a vampire he wouldn't age anyway."
"What's a vampire?" I asked scared of what the answer would be.
"Oh you know, immortal beings that feed on the blood of the living and can't step in the sunlight. Nasty little things like that."
"And the guy with the ax. Is he a vampire too?" Applebloom asked.
"Him? No. He's just in the same boat as me and is kept alive by the fact time is non-existent here." it was now looking rather smug. "You saw him didn't you? The man with the metal face? And you lived. Props to you."
"Yeah well he killed one of our classmates." Applebloom snapped back.
"Oh well I am sorry." it said not changing it's expression, "Say, if you let me out of these chains I could help you fight him. We could do it you know, and if he's dead then Alucard will show up and we can force him to let us out of here."
It sounded alright but, "sorry we can't let you down your to dangerous."
"Well alright if you want to bumble around in the dark until you get killed off be my guest." it said turning it's back on us.
We turned to go and that's when we heard the sound of metal chains dropping to the floor. We turned and saw that Sweetie Belle had taken his chains off for him. We looked at her and she said:
"What? I thought he could help us."
It just rubbed its wrist's and said "Thank you. But you really should have listened to your friends. You made a bad move."
As the word's escaped the humans mouth it started to change, it grow to eight feet tall, grew dark black fur all over its body and it grow razor teeth. It had long pointy ears, a tail,and it resembled that of a timber wolf. It let out a blood curtailing scream and I remembered, this was the same thing from my nightmares all those nights ago. I couldn't help it I turned and ran, I didn't even see if my friends had started to run too, I just needed to get out of there. As I ran I could hear Applebloom shouting that it had gotten Sweetie Belle and that it was after them, but I could barely hear her over the sound of my beating heart. Then I saw it the entrance to the tunnel system and I ran through the thresh hold and stopped dead when I saw Metal Head standing right in the lift after he had came down it, and looked at we with those evil blood-shot eyes. I turned to run and behind me was the wolf-man, and behind him was the asseverated remains of my friend Applebloom. I wanted to cry, I wanted to give up, I was ready, for it to kill me and then.
"Harkim! You little coward, want to try and hit me now that I'm not chained up?" the wolf-man said in a snarling voice.
"You want to challenge me? I'll skin you and ware you as a coat dog." Metal Head shouted back.
Then the two charged each other and I took the opportunity to run off before they decided a winner. I ran into the lift and closed the door I pulled the ropes until I was at the first level. I ran into the dinning hall and saw a clock that said it was now ten thirty in the morning, excited to see the sun I remembered that there was a court yard I could go into. I got out there and to my dismay I looked up to see the moon still high up in the sky as though it was midnight. In rage, frustration, and sadness I let out a long wailing sob. I was stuck in this mansion, all my friends were dead, and I wanted to go home. I then just started to cry and cry. There was nothing I could do and there was nowhere I could go. As I cried I didn't even hear the dead humans moving to where I was and suddenly a hand was on my shoulder and spun me around and tried to bite me. I screamed and pulled the sword out of the sheath. I swung it wildly and it struck it's target a couple of times but all in all I was going to lose. Then I heard the sound of the dragging again and all the humans fled. I turned expecting to see Metal Head but to my surprise and dismay it was the wolf-man in his human form dragging the battle ax. I didn't even bother trying to run, I just put up the sword and waited for it all to end. The dragging stopped and I closed my eyes. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me.
"You want to go down fighting, and there for that is honorable." it said, "If you want to leave go to the top of the tower, there you will find Alucard, beat him and you can leave. You have wings just fly down and it will put you out at next night based on how long you've been in here."
"Your not going to kill me?" I asked.
"Not now, but if we cross paths again before you get to the tower, then I will kill you." It said and walked off back into the mansion.
I sat there in silence for a long while, just soaking in what had happened to me that night, and I started to cry again. It was almost over, I had to be strong, so I gathered myself and I started back to the lift. On the way back I heard the dragging sound so I booked it to the lift but as I rounded the corner there he was waiting for me so I turned and ran for the main entrance. He changed into the beast and started chasing me as I got to the door he ripped the bag right of my back and I went through the door and it sent me to the third floor I closed the door so he couldn't follow me. To through him off my trail even more I ran to the stairs and ran up to the fifth floor and then I called the lift. The lift got there and I got in and closed the doors, I took a deep breath, and lowered myself down to the basement.
In the basement I saw that Applebloom and Sweetie Belles names on the blackboard had been crossed out and that my name was the only one left. I crossed over to the tunnels and headed down, Appleblooms body was no longer there and there was only a blood stain. I walked somberly down the tunnels until I got to the door that lead up to the tower. I opened the door and went through, I drew the sword and started to climb up the tower's stairs. As I got to the top I saw that it looked a lot like the room that Alucard had in the other building. As I looked around a felt a presence behind me I turned and swung the sword cutting the throat of the tall skinny man behind me, he stubbed backwards a fell, he stopped moving. 'That's too easy' I thought to myself. But I then turned and looked for a the window I was suppose to climb out of. And then I heard scraping behind me and turn to see the man had stood up and his neck healed. He gave me a toothy smile and I could see his razor sharp teeth. He laughed and said:
"Well done Scootaloo. Well done, you've survived and made it all the way here to see me."
I gulped nervously. "Does...does that mean I can go home?"
"Go home? But you only just got here." he said evilly, "Don't you want stay and talk for a bit, keep me company."
I lost my nerve and I shouted "No I don't want to stay I want you to bring my friends back and let me out of here right now!"
"Oh, I see. Well Scootaloo, I'll make a deal with you," he said, "If you can beat me in a challenge of my choice then I will restore two of your friends and you all can go free. However. If you lose then I get to suck your body dry of all liquids. What do you say?"
"I except. What's the challenge?"
"I challenge you to..." he paused to think as he walked around the room, he stopped and looked at picture. "The challenge is to find who is the fastest."
"Huh?"
"Yes that's it isn't it. From the lift stopped on the fifth floor all the way down to the court yard, who ever gets there first is the winner. Let's go."
"Ok, but no cheating, like no secret passages that I don't know about."
"Deal."
And with that the doors opened and revealed that we were on the fifth floor of the main building. He shouted out go and I took of running. I ran to the stairs down to the fourth floor, then the third, then the second, down the hall and down the stairs onto the first floor, my heart was pounding, then I saw the wolf-man again and my heart skipped a beat as I skid to a stop. Then I saw that he wasn't facing me, he was facing Alucard. Behind him I saw that the lift's doors were open. 'That's right I could have taken the lift down to the first floor.'
"Heidevolk what do you think your doing? Get out of my way!" Alucard shouted at the beast.
"Sorry lord Alucard but I can't let you do what you have done to so many others to her, it wouldn't be fair." the wolf-man said in the same gruff voice he had before.
"And you are going to stop me? Why so noble all of the sudden? As I recall you violently slaughtered both of her friends." the vampire pointed out.
"I have my reasons." Heidevolk responded, "And I will not do your bidding any more."
It then occurred to me that the wolf-man was stalling so that I could beat Alucard. With that I turned and ran off in the direction of the court yard and as I ran I could hear the fight going down behind me. I broke through the doors into the court yard I could feel the vampire getting close behind me but I had won.
"What that's impossible, I've never lost."
"She beat you fair and square, you owe her two friends and a free trip outta here." A battered human Heidevolk said.
"Very well, I am a man of my word so, as promised here you are," In a flash of light Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both appeared and were unscathed. "And there you go."
The wall separates and reveals the front gate's open wide and before they can even move towards the entrance Heidevolk bolts and runs out to be free, and Alucard is just spewing mad, and then the three of us all run and are free. the gates close and we look back to see the sun rising over the tree tops. As we are walking back I notice Heidevolk following us. I turn to face him and he says:
"I know what you are going to ask, why the change in heart all of the sudden, why did I leave the grounds, and where will I go now?"
"That about sums it up." I said.
"Well lets just say you reminded me what I had to fight for, I left for the same reason that you did to go home, and now I will find a place that I can call home. I doubt that we will ever see each other again."
And with that he shifted and ran off. I never saw him again. When we got back to Ponyvile it turned out that we had been gone for three days, we got all rested and ate a full meal. Then we told everypony what had happened and why we where the only survivors. At first they thought we had imagined the whole thing but after Twilight had analyzed a scratch mark on my back she confirmed that we had really had a run in with a werewolf. Everyone was glad that we were ok and there was a memorial ceremony for those who died. Class the next day seemed so much emptier, and we didn't really do much. Later that night as I was falling asleep I could sworn I heard the howl of a werewolf. But maybe I was just dreaming.
I woke up the next morning and I felt well rested, I looked over and Applebloom was gone. 'She must have gotten and early start,' I thought to myself as I worked my way down stairs as I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs I noticed a long hall way that has never been there before. I realized all at once that that was the hall way on the third floor of the Alucard mansion. I turned to run back into the barn but it was only an empty guest room. I backed up slowly in fear and then I hit a tall slender body, I turned in true terror to see Alucard standing over me.
"Welcome back to mad house." the vampire said smugly, "You won't be so lucky in your second visit."
I watch helplessly as he bared his fangs and chopped down on my neck. I could feel the very life being drained from my body as I thought my last thoughts.
And then she was gone, Scootaloo was dead. And so was the last of my fun. I sat there somberly as I looked at the lifeless corpse in front of me. Then I remembered that a certain werewolf was still out there some where and needed me to find and tame him all over again.
"I have to go for now Scootaloo, but I'll be back." then with a laugh I said, "Look after the house while I'm gone."
"Yes Dr.Alucard, it really quite interesting how when she escaped she found her way right to his cell and released him."
"You call it interesting I call it annoying, little brat nearly killed me when she slashed my throat." Dr.Alucard said, "Did you ever get Heidevolk back into his cell?"
"No when I came to I saw you bleeding out and her running down the road talking to her imaginary friends, I shot her with a tranquilizer and she went down."
"He's still the only one to ever escape on you watch Harkim, thats why your the best guard we have here." Alucard commented.
"Yeah, but I still don't like the idea of a homo-sidle schizophrenic sociopath on the lose." Harkim mentioned.
"True buy if history has taught us anything it's that he'll show up soon enough." the doctor thought. "Has she said anything yet?"
"Yeah but it's mostly just nonsense about werewolves and vampires." the guard replied.
"I think it was the new medicine that caused the length of this psychotic episode. I think we'll switch her back to the other medicine."
And just like that Scootaloo's life went to a state of normalcy once again and she stayed to herself and only talked to her friends that only existed in her mind.
"And do you believe that's what she told you?" a purple alicorn asked with a very stern face.
"Yes that's what she told me she and her friends were doing and that's why she's not here anymore." I said moving my rainbow hair out of my face.
"So Scootaloo told you that she and her classmates where spending a night at Alucard manor and that it is haunted and that once you go in there is no way out." Twilight said not changing her expression.
"Yes, I told her not to go but she didn't listen."
"And that's what you believe is the reason why Scootaloo is no longer with us?" she asked keeping her eyes trained on me at all times.
"Yes, Twilight I already said that like a hundred times by now."
"I know I wanted to make sure." she sighed, "Rainbow, we all deal with trauma in different way's, I think your way is fabricating this crazy story so that your not weighed down by the truth."
I gulped, "What are you talking about?"
"Scootaloo and her classmates didn't go to a haunted house, none of what you just said ever happened. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are in the next room over to prove that fact." Twilight said delicately.
"O-oh so then what did happen?" I asked shakily.
"Rainbow you already know, you and her were practicing flying and you flew on a head, she got a wing cramp and fell face first in to a mud hole, the fall knocked her unconscious and she drowned." Twilight said calmly. "When you went back to find her she was already gone, and you feeling responsible created this crazy story to stop yourself from blaming yourself."
"What that can't be true, it can't be."
"I'm sorry but it is." Twilight said, "But don't worry we will all be here for each other and we will get by this tragedy, together. But it isn't your fault."
All at once the event came back to me and I began to cry. "It is my fault Twilight, I pushed her too hard, I saw she was struggling and I didn't even let her take a brake. I over worked her and she died because of it."
Not knowing what else to say Twilight just wrapped her arms around me and held me tight as I sobbed. The two of us stayed that way until the sun set three hours later.
Over the next couple years I never thought much of what I had went through, In no time at all it seemed like everyone had moved on and what was done was done. The three of us eventually earned our cutie marks, Applebloom got hers in art and painting. Sweetie Belle got hers in singing, and I got mine when I became a professional stunt performer. All the same I still every once in awhile will go to the front gate of Alucard manor, and I look in and remember everything. Most people just see the front of an empty old hospital/mansion but I will forever see the horrors that I had endured inside. Sometimes I swear I can see a tall dark shadow looming around inside, as if he's watching me, the only one to ever escape his grasp.I walked away from the building and I went back to the town.
A few months later I was sitting on my pouch looking into the city and then out of nowhere I can see Alucard walking up the road wearing a large black hat to shield his face from the sun and he was covered completely as to not have any of his skin touch the sunlight. I watch in disbelief as he walked strait up to me, in the same voice that he had all those yeas ago he said.
"Hello Scootaloo, did you miss me? I certainly missed you." and he gave that unsettling toothish grin that only he could give. "I saw you outside and that you didn't want to come in."
"What are you doing here Alucard, your not welcome here." I said as firmly as I could.
"Oh you can just sneak into my house with out permission but I have to call ahead? How is that fair?" he said in an eerie tone.
"Well at least I left you alone, I didn't stalk you afterward."
"Oh so you standing at my gate's is different from me standing at your porch?"
"Just go away, I don't ever want to see you again."
"Fine you'll be rid of me. I just wanted to know have you seen Heidevolk since your escape?"
"No I haven't, he said we would probably never see each other again."
"Petty, I suppose he really did age six hundred years all at once then."
"What?"
"Oh yeah a side effect of the time spell is when you get out how ever long you were in there for is how much you age. so he is probably no more than a pile of dust somewhere. Oh well, nice seeing you Scootaloo, feel free to drop by any time you wish." and with that Alucard left while laughing and smiling evilly to himself.
With that I never visited the house again for fearing that I may somehow still be connected to it. I lived the rest of my life never thinking about the house itself but remembering what it did to me. I'll still never escape it though...
