Welcome to the Funhouse
Happiness washed over Sweetie Belle when she and Rarity arrived at the amusement park. She could not hold on to her emotions as the sounds of ponies screaming for joy, the neon lights flashing and blinking, and the fresh scent of cotton candy and baked pretzels demanded the attention of her senses. Having arrived at night made the experience wonderful than it was before. “Okay, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, “we are only going to spend one hour here, then we’re going home.”
“But that’s not nearly enough time!” Sweetie said. She gazed at all of the rides and attractions the amusement park had to offer. There was a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, bumper cars, and a chair-o-plane. Not to mention the assortment of games and contest. How was she going to enjoy herself in such short amount of time?
“I’m sorry Sweetie, I know how much you wanted to come here all week, but we can’t stay here for a long time,” said Rarity. “Besides, you have to school with all of your friends tomorrow.”
Rarity was right of course. The amusement park arrived in Ponyville during the last week of summer vacation. It was the holy site for foals who wanted to relish in their last moments of freedom before they returned to their classrooms and lectures. It was unfortunate that Sweetie arrived on the last night. They would have came to the park several days earlier if Rarity had not have been busy with clothing orders.
“Okay,” Sweetie said defeatedly. The Belle Sisters entered the glowing amusement park side by side, making sure one would not lose sight of the other. Sweetie Belle had to choose carefully which of the rides she wanted to go on. She heard jovial yells and shrieks from every corner of the park, making it impossible for her to decide. “This is so hard,” she said to herself. Sweetie knew she had to pick a ride soon, lest she wanted to wait in the long lines that were forming.
Everywhere she and Rarity went, lines were growing in front of the popular rides. There was a sign on the line for the Viking Ship ride that said “20 Minute Wait.” There was no way Sweetie Belle was to wait in line for twenty minutes for a ride that lasted for five minutes. The Bumper Cars also had a long line, and from the look of it, she could be waiting for at least 30 minutes, ten minutes more than the Viking ride.
“Wow, maybe we should have arrived a little early,” Rarity said. Sweetie grumbled under her breath, but Rarity could not hear her. There was one ride at the amusement park that had a much shorter line, and it was Loop-O-Plane.
“Let’s go to that one!” Sweetie exclaimed. She grabbed Rarity’s hoof and she dragged her older sister to the line. Much to her surprise they came just in time. The ride was over and the next wave of ponies were let in by the ride’s operator. Sweetie jumped in placed with a huge smile on her lips. Finally, she and Rarity were next in line for the first ride of the night.
The operator held his arm in front of Sweetie, and had her stand on the height meter. “I’m sorry young lady, but you’re not tall enough for this ride,” he said. Sweetie’s lower lip quivered, and she led away from the line. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said. Looking back, Sweetie watch as the Loop-O-Plane started. The two 16-foot long arms swung the cars in opposite directions until they loop completely. The riders inside the cars sound like they were having a great time. “Let’s find something else to ride on,” said Rarity.
As long as Sweetie and Rarity searched for a good ride, the lines continued to grow and grow. Sweetie figured that must have spent at least fifteen minutes looking for a ride with short lines. All of the wild, energetic, and fantastic attractions had an influx of ponies waiting. Even the games and contests were crowded. The only rides available was the Merry-Go-Round and the Teacups, but Sweetie thought that was for little foals. It was twenty minutes into the night, and Sweetie was about to give up all hope for finding a ride.
Suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, Sweetie saw a dark house standing in the corner of the park. There was no light on the house, no sign of an operator or park attendant, and best of all, there were no lines. There were windows on the house, but it was so dark she could not see what was inside. “What is that?” she asked. She walked closer to the house, and noticed the sign on top of the door said FUNHOUSE. “The Funhouse?” Sweetie asked herself.
“That looks a little creepy,” Rarity said. “Not to mention dangerous. Maybe we should something more appropriate for you.”
“But this is only thing in the whole park with no stupid line!” Sweetie said. “Besides, we don’t that much time!” Sweetie ran toward the house, not without Rarity in tow, and opened the door to the so-called “Funhouse.”
“Sweetie, be careful!” Rarity warned, but Sweetie had already disappeared into the darkness. Once Rarity was inside the house, she thought she had gone blind. The house was blanketed in thick darkness, so much so that she was afraid to move. “Sweetie?” she called, “Sweetie?” Rarity heard what she thought giggling from a young filly. Her horn glowed a pale-blue light, which was enough to light a path in front of her. “Sweetie? Where have you gone?” she asked to the darkness. Each step she took resulted in the wooden floorboards making a loud creaking noise. “Sweetie, please come out,” Rarity said again. There was a low thumping noise behind her, so she quickly turned her head to shine her light on whoever it was making the noise, but Rarity found nothing. “This place is giving me the creeps,” she said.
“Boo!” Sweetie yelled. Rarity’s white coat turned even whiter the moment her little sister leaped out of nowhere from the darkness. Her terrified scream echoed throughout the old house, and she fell on flank, feeling her heart beat rapidly. While she was trying to catch her breath, Sweetie Belle was on her stomach under Rarity’s light, laughing uncontrollably. “You should’ve seen the look on your face!”
“Sweetie Belle, don’t do that!” Rarity rebuked. “You gave me such a fright! Have you gone mad, child?” Sweetie paid no attention to her sister’s scolding. She continued to bellow with laughter while Rarity tried to fix her mane. “Now that you had your little laugh let’s get out of here! It’s too dark and dreary!”
“But we just got here,” Sweetie whined.
“I don’t care. We are leaving this house right now!” said Rarity. She turned back to the direction they came, with Sweetie slumping behind her. Rarity shined her light in every direction of the room, but she could see nothing but utter darkness. She could not even see any windows. “That’s strange… I thought there was a door here a moment ago.”
“Maybe you went the wrong way,” said Sweetie Belle.
“How could you possibly know where the right way is? This place is completely dark!” Rarity looked around herself with the light from her horn, but she was unable to find a way out of the Funhouse. “Oh great, now we’re trapped in here! I hope you’re proud of yourself Sweetie Belle… Sweetie Belle?” Rarity looked behind her, and much to her dismay Sweetie was no longer with her. “Sweetie! Oh drat, please don’t do this to me again!”
Sweetie could have sworn that she was following Rarity a moment ago. She could not remember how, but she was currently sitting in a chair in what felt like a small room, entirely devoid of light. “Hello? Rarity?” She was too afraid to climb out of the chair. Sweetie reached out her arms and touched a cold metal object, along with small chains. She pulled the chain down and the room was dimly lit. The room was empty, save for a film projector in front of a small window.
“Whoa,” she said. Sweetie climbed out of the chair to take a look at the projector. Her childlike instincts told her to touch it repeatedly until something happens. She pressed a button that immediately turned on the projector. As the film rolled, light from the projector lens penetrated the darkness outside. Sweetie took a peek out the window and was surprised to see a creepy-looking pony walking the halls. “Cool,” she said with wonder.
“When I get my hooves on her, I’ll… I’ll…” Rarity was too frustrated to finish stating her punishment for Sweetie Belle. After an agonizing ten minutes of trying to find her way through the darkness, Rarity managed to find the stairs. The light from her horn could not make her surroundings any brighter, so she had to watch her step so she would not trip and fall.
To the side of her, there were portraits lined up as she ascended to the top of the house. Rarity felt uneasy looking at them, thinking that the portraits were watching her every move. “Oh, I really hate this place,” she said to herself, “why did Sweetie wanted to come here?” Rarity breathed a relieved sigh as she took one last step. She had finally made it to the upstairs hallway, but her search for Sweetie was just starting. “Sweetie? Are you in here?” she called out. “Don’t try to scare me again!”
From the corner of the hallway, Rarity saw dimly-lit light. “Oh, thank goodness! Sweetie Belle don’t scare me like that!” Rarity turned at the corner of the hall to meet Sweetie. The only problem was that it was not Sweetie.
The air from Rarity’s lungs escaped her when she saw the most terrifying sight her eyes had beheld. Before her was a ghastly, walking apparition. He had chains around and over his body, and his coat was faded tan. Rarity froze dead on the ground. She dared not move, or she might try to provoke him.
The apparition stopped… and looked at her.
With a blood-curdling scream, Rarity ran the opposite direction of the hall like a speed demon. She ran into so many pathways that she did not know where she was. Running through the halls lead her into a library. When Rarity thought she was safe, she rested on a large bookshelf to catch her breathe. “...The g-g-ghost,” she panted. “He… l-l-looked at me!” Rarity rested her back on the bookshelf, only for the bookshelf to slide sideways. She closed her eyes and screamed. Upon opening them once more, she found herself in another dark room.
Now that Sweetie Belle knew how to work the projector, she was busying finding something else in the room of value. However, since the room was half-empty, she did not think she’ll find anything. With that in mind, Sweetie voted to find a way out. Looking around it appears there was no door anywhere in the room, which was strange to her.
“How am I going to get out of here?” she asked. She sat back on the red chair under the lamp with her hoof under her chin. She looked around her for any possible answers, until she felt an object she had not noticed before on the left side of the chair. It was a long steel pole of some kind sticking from the floor. “A lever?” she said. Sweetie climbed from the chair and examined the lever. She was unsure if she should pull it, but if it is the only way out of the room…
Sweetie pulled the lever, not without straining herself, and half of the room disappeared. She felt herself being pushed sideways into another mysterious room. She could not see very well, but there was something on the wall that she instantly recognized. Sweetie flipped the ON switch, and the room was slightly illuminated. Sweetie was now inside a black-and-white checkerboard room. “Uh-oh,” she said.
She wanted the pull the lever, but the lever was gone, and so was the chair and the lamp. Sweetie hesitated to advance forward, fearing she might hit a wall. In front of her there was a white rectangle and a black rectangle surrounded by small black-and-white squares. She thought the black rectangle could lead her out of the room. Sweetie took a deep breath and marched like a soldier to the black rectangle.
She rubbed her forehead after impact. Sweetie touched the black rectangle with her hooves, only to find it was just a piece of wallpaper. She looked at the white rectangle on the side of her, and saw a small doorknob. Sweetie opened it slowly, then she was led into a dark hall. “How many dark hallways does this house have?” she asked herself.
Rarity was not faring well either. The light from her horn was not enough to illuminate the room she was currently in, so she had to find a switch of some kind. She grumbled under her breath when she could not find anything to lit the room. In a fit of anger, she stomp of hoof on the floor.
To her surprise, the floor brightly lit the room. The room she was in spectacularly large, decorated with red-and-green striped wallpaper. On both sides of the room, knights in shining armour were lined up. Dust was clearly seen on the armoured knights, along with spider webs, but weapons looked as if they could cut somepony by just staring at them. “Oh dear,” she said to herself. Rarity motioned slowly to the other side of the room, where the door was located. There was a large portrait of an elegant mare wearing a tiara above the door. Rarity wondered who she was, but thought nothing of it. She had to get out of here, and quick.
Sweetie Belle was lost again. The corridor she was in was dark, but not as dark that she could not see. She heard of crackling sound behind her. “Hello,” she said nervously. The crackling sound vibrated off the walls, sending chills down Sweetie’s spine. She froze like a statue in the middle of the corridor. The crackling sound grew louder and louder, while Sweetie shivered under her coat.
A rat emerged from the darkness, and Sweetie kept her distance from it. Luckily for her, the rat was not interested in Sweetie. It scampered to another direction much to Sweetie’s relief, however, she was still lost in the darkness.
The were many doors around her, so Sweetie figured that she should choose one to go in. She selected a random door and twisted the knob. Behind the door was a grand dining room, with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, empty chairs lined up on opposite sides of the long table. A giant cube of cheese was the centerpiece of the dinner.
“Why cheese?” Sweetie asked. Her stomach was making noises, so she figured she would eat a piece of cheese and be on her way. Sweetie reached her head and took a bite out of the cheese, not realizing it was plastic. Her stomach demanded that she find food this instant. Sweetie walked out of the room to find another door.
After long, intimidating steps forward, Rarity was finally at the other end of the room. The door knob was at her reach, and she seized the opportunity to open it. Her blue magic grabbed the door knob, twisted it open, and she let herself in.
What she had not anticipated behind the door was a slide.
Sliding down, Rarity screamed for help. The slide looped backwards, sideways, zig-zagging her into different directions. She entered a long tunnel full of neon lights before she finally stopped. Her mane was in an incredible mess, and she fought to catch her breath. Unfortunately, the spot she was sitting on threw her upward like a pinball. She landed on the ceiling, or what she thought was the ceiling. After her vision cleared, she gazed at a chandelier in front of her. “What is this?” she asked dumbfoundedly. She lifted her head high and above her was a fireplace, a couch, and a chair. Rarity legs felt weak, feeling she would faint at any moment.
The room Sweetie was in now was stranger than the last. The laws of gravity and physics seem to be either ignored, or destroyed completely. The stairs lead upward, then downward, then side-to-side, then upward again, and so on. Sweetie felt dizzy just by looking at them for so long.
Sweetie had no idea where and when the stairs ended, but she had to figure it out sometime. She set one hoof on the steps, followed by another. Ten steps later, she approached another set of stairs going a vertical direction. Sweetie swallowed the excess saliva and put her hoof on the step. Upon entry, she was surprised to see that she did not fall. The more she climbed on the vertical stairs, the she was climbing earlier was below her.
“This place gets weirder and weirder,” she said. Sweetie gazed at the anti-gravity stairway above and around her. This might take a while.
Rarity had just awoken from what seemed like a terrible nightmare. She was in a dreadful slide that sent her sideways and backways and downways. Then she was standing on a ceiling with a chandelier hanging upward, with the fireplace above her head. “Oh my, what a terrible dream,” she said, “I’m sure glad it’s over. Now to find Sweetie Belle and get out of here.” Getting back on her legs, she straighten out her mane and continued her quest to find her little sister.
What she did not count on was for the reappearance of the upward chandelier. “But… I thought it was just a dream,” she said. Rarity looked above her, and the fireplace and the chairs were still there as well. She was so frustrated, she could just kick the chandelier behind her. In fact, she did just that.
A trap door opened under her legs and Rarity fell right in. She screamed all the way down. She screamed for this nightmare to end already. Rarity stopped screaming when she landed on a red chair. Her impact somehow ignited the chair and the lights in the dark hallway. The chair advanced forward, while neon lights flashed around her. Annoying carnival music was playing in the background. “This is a waking nightmare,” Rarity said to herself.
Sweetie Belle was really lost this time. She could not, for the young life of her, find a way out of the room full of confusing stairs. She walked horizontally, vertically, sideways, and backways, but the whole room seemed like a maze. “What is this place?” she said. She sat down for a moment to think about what to do next. Sweetie gazed at the confusing stairs, feeling she might never find her exit.
“I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life,” she said. “This stinks.”
Rarity had to cover her ears throughout the ride. The annoying carnival music was starting to get to her. She wished the ride would stop already. After three minutes of torture, the ride finally ceased, and Rarity was let go. She unbuckled herself and climbed out of the chair. She ran down the hall into a corridor.
“Just my luck, more doors,” she said. Her only options were to look behind each of them, find Sweetie, and get out of here, if she could. Rarity opened the first door, and behind it was a wall of bricks. “Seriously? How cliche,” she said. She advanced through the corridor until she found another interesting door. This time, when she opened it, the room was nothing but stock footage of a three-headed hydra destroying a city. Rarity closed it quickly.
“This is going to be harder than I thought,” she said. There were so many doors, either of which Sweetie could be in. Rarity reached for the closed door in front of her and opened it, only to find a record player stuck on the same verse of a creepy song.
Waiting for a way out was not going to do her any good, so Sweetie had to keep walking until she found one. Being inside this room was one of the strangest experiences of her life. When she thought she was walking upward she fell down on stairs going downward, and she thought she going downward she fell up on stairs going upward. She also fell sideways.
Sweetie was beginning to feel frustrated. In a fit of annoyance she jumped on the steps, grumbling and mumbling under her breath. One last stomp of her hoof to the steps caused a chain reaction she had not foreseen. The steps disappeared, then she began to slid down as though she were on a slide at the playground. The slide lead to a small black square, which surprisingly enough, Sweetie was able to fit right in. She passed through a small dark tunnel. After a long ride, she was inside a room. In front of her was a door. Sweetie quickly stood on her legs and opened it, and entered a long corridor.
“Oh great, more doors,” she said. As if being trapped in the confusing room of stairs was not bad enough. Sweetie had no other options other than look through the doors until she saw something interesting. The first door she looked through had a room with a giant hamster running on a wheel. The second door she looked through had a room with stock footage of a steam locomotive advancing towards her. The third door she looked through had skeers trying to escape an avalanche. “This house is weird!” Sweetie yelled.
Rarity had enough of doors. If she had to unlock another door again, she was going to have a fit. Sweat dripping down her head, she mumbled about burning the house to the ground. She reached what she thought was the end of the hallway. Rarity did not know, nor did she wanted to. “If I find another irrevent image behind this door, I’m going to scream!” she yelled. After waiting three seconds she opened the door.
It was not quite what she had expected.
The room was full of mirrors. Big mirrors, small mirrors, tall mirrors, short mirrors. Rarity slowly entered the room, her reflection bouncing off each of the mirrors. “Well, this place isn’t so bad… at least,” she said. Along the way, Rarity spotted a very thin mirror. Her reflection made her look like a slender supermodel who starved herself. She stuck her tongue out in disgust, as nopony should ever look like that.
Rarity passed by a round mirror, which made her reflection look plump and chubby. She cocked an eyebrow, and moved on. With each mirror she passed, her reflection was in a different shape and size. Sometimes she looked attractive, other times she looked repulsive. On some mirrors she looked old, on other mirrors she looked like a filly. At the end of the room there was a huge mirror that stood tall over the rest. She edged closer to it, and saw that her reflection was… perfect. It was a perfect spitting image of herself. However, there was a small crack on it.
Upon further inspection, the small crack seemed to have fixed itself. “How did that…” The mirror was perfect, with no scratch on it. Rarity had one eye closed and another opened. She extended her hoof to touch it to see if it was real. She touched the glass… until a liquidy substance was on her hoof. Then it was covering half of her forearm. “What is happening… what’s going on?” Rarity asked frantically. The liquid metal from the mirror covered her entire body, and she felt herself being pulled toward the mirror. Rarity screamed for help, but none answered her call. With one last wail, she disappeared into the mirror.
All hope seemed lost for Sweetie. None of the doors had led to Rarity or a way out of the house. Tears ran down from her eyes, her cries vibrating off the walls. She slumped on the floor and let the tears roll down. “Rarity… where are you?” she wept.
She stayed like for a while. Sweetie truly believed she was lost in this maze of a house forever. She thought that nopony will ever find her. Her ears perked at the sound of a small, but ominous voice. The voice sounded as though it were multiple voices in one. The lights flickered on and off, and Sweetie grew afraid. “Hello? Who’s there?” she said.
The mysterious voices came from the door to her right. Sweetie was too frightened to open the door, the one of the voices sounded like her sister. “Rarity?” She slowly approached the door with caution. Opening it, the voices ceased, and all she saw was blackness. “Rarity?” Sweetie called out. Her voice echoed into the darkness. She received no answer.
Out of the darkness, shadowy arms grabbed her. Sweetie screamed for help, but the shadows covered her mouth. Now her screams were muffled. Sweetie felt herself being pulled into the blackness. This was it. This is how it all ends. She closed her eyes, and her last thought was of Rarity. She felt herself going deeper and deeper…
… The blackness cleared, and Sweetie felt the ground under her body. She struggled to stand on her legs, and when she did her eyes widened when she saw she was outside. It was still night, and the lights of the carnival were dark. Sweetie hyperventilate, and looked around her for another pony. “Rarity? Rarity?” she asked frantically.
She heard muffled groans next to her, and found that Rarity was lying on the ground face down. “Rarity, wake up!” Sweetie yelled. She rocked the body of her older sister back and forth until Rarity emerged from unconsciousness. “Rarity, are you okay?”
“Uh… uh,” Rarity began. She rubbed her forehead with her white hoof. “I have the most splitting headache, right now. What happened, Sweetie Belle? And why am I on the ground?” Sweetie did not answer immediately. She turned her head and gazed at the Funhouse. Only the Funhouse was no longer there.
“Where did it go?”