A/N: Well, though I do have other stories to update, here I am with a new one! Or rather, first in a series - you see,after listening to the Nox Arcana album"Blackthorn Asylum", and seeing the Youtube comments there that were like a RP, and that same group of people doing that on a few other of those NA vides too, a plot began to form in my head that was like an expansion of that, so I figured, "Hey, why not?" Thus, this was born! And yes, it's AU. So... onward!

Disclaimer: I do not own MLP:FiM, Nox Arcana, or the Youtube RP that this is loosely based on.

"This fog is so spooky, Rainbow Dash! I can't see a thing!"

"Calm down, Fluttershy, I think we're almost there... "

Out of the concealing mist which appeared to be ever-present in this part of the forest, two pegasai stepped into view, the bare trees on either side of them only serving to give this section of the wilderness a more mysterious allure. As the fog began to clear, the two ponies finally beheld their destination - a large stone building that resided in the center of the forest. No noise from inside resounded, no opening and shutting of doors. No distant ghosts of the screams that had once inhabited the edifice in question in those centuries past when it was still in use.

"Ha, I knew we'd find it around here!"

The gazes of the two visitors rose to the top of the gate, where faded, engraved words were visible, enduring over the centuries since it had first been built:

Blackthorn Asylum

The pair stared upward, the foreboding structure appearing to leer down at them, as if daring them to inter the decrepit halls at their own risk. Both members of the party carried small bags over their shoulders, packed with thee provisions for the night ahead that they planned to spend in this forbidden sector of the forest. As they looked at the towering edifice, the ponies wore opposing expressions - the yellow-coated pegasus bore a gaze that expressed she would rather be anywhere but there, while the cyan pony hovered eagerly in the air, imagining that she was embarking on a grand adventure.

"W-Why did you bring me here again?" the yellow pegasus asked quietly, attempting to control her trembling. "You know I really really don't like scary things."

"Because," her companion responded, as if stating the obvious, "remember that bet I made the other day?"

"Suddenly, Daring Do heard a voice in the echoing chamber, the glow in the center of the room looking even brighter..."

It was the day before the holiday known as Nightmare Night, and Rainbow Dash was partaking in one of her favorite activities - reading about the brave adventurer known as Daring Doo. She was reading Daring Doo and the House on Haunted Hill, the cover adorned with an illustration of the titular character entering a large stone edifice, the surroundings dusty and decrepit with age. This was about the fifth time she had read it, though it was both for the sake of the upcoming holiday and the fact that the next book in the series was due to be out the following week.

"Hey, you want to go to some place really like that?"

Rainbow Dash looked up from her book to see a cream-colored earth pony with a dark blue and pink mane standing in front of her. Sweetie Drops, known to most ponies by the nickname Bon Bon, wore an expression that seemed rather curious.

"Hey Bon Bon, I thought you had your voice-acting classes to go to today." She gestured to the bag at the earth pony's side, where a folded script could be seen sticking out.

Bon Bon shook her head. "The director was sick today," her voice changed to a tone that was considered 'high-class', "so I figured I'd do a bit of practicing on my own". Smiling, her voice went back to her normal tone. "Anyway, I just saw the cover of the book you're reading and remembering the legends of an old cursed asylum that's said to be around here. I've seen drawings and it looks kind of like that."

"A cursed asylum?" Rainbow's ears perked up in interest, the earth pony now having her full attention. That prospect sounded like an adventure waiting to happen.

"Yup," Bon Bon turned her head in the direction of the Everfree Forest, just on the outskirts of Ponyville. "It's called Blackthorn Asylum. They say that a bunch of ponies used to be tormented there because they were insane, but that was centuries ago. I've even heard some ponies say that the place was cursed."

"Cool!" The pegasus placed her bookmark into the spot she had been reading and turned the cover upright. "So it really looks kind of like this?"

The cream-colored pony nodded. "I thought that was Blackthorn Asylum at first until I got a closer look at the cover..." She paused, a hoof to her chin, before a smile lit up her face. "Hey... how about you and I make a bet?"

An arch of the pegasus's brow. "What kind of bet?"

Bon Bon smirked. "Go to Blackthorn Asylum on Nightmare Night, stay there all night, and come back the next morning and describe the experience in detail." Bon Bon moved her head closer, knowing just how much Rainbow liked a challenge. "And I mean a lot of detail. Enough to prove without a doubt that you were there."

Rainbow Dash was prepared to meet this challenge head on. "What do I get if I win?"

"15 bits. And if you lose you have to give me 15."

The eager pegasus let out a small but excited squee. "That means if I win, I'll have just enough bits to go get a signed copy of the next Daring Doo book!" Grinning widely, she accepted the challenge with a hoof bump. "You're on!"

Before Rainbow could take off, the earth pony held up a hoof to stop her. "Hold it. There's a few rules for this."

"Aw man..." the pegasus looked disappointed, but she put all four hooves on the ground and listened anyway.

"Rule number one, you can't leave the asylum for any reason, so if you plan to bring anything, stock up. Rule number two, you have to bring somepony with you."

"Why?"

"So I can trust somepony that you actually went there and didn't fake it."

Rainbow lifted into the air again and crossed her forehooves in defiance. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

The deadpan expression on Bon Bon's face made it clear that the answer to that question was "no, I don't".

A sigh of exasperation. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll bring somepony with me."

"Oh, and one more rule I forgot - bring a souvenir." Bon Bon's narrowed eyes matched Rainbow's in its challenging look. "Bring some relic back from the asylum as absolute proof."

The thought of bringing back some sort of object from the asylum was getting Rainbow Dash to feel more and more like Daring Do with each passing second. "What kind of souvenir?"

"Anything," said Bon Bon. "A scythe, a list of tortures, living shadows, a map, a magic notebook that kills whoever's name you write in it, I don't know, just something as proof of your visit."

The pegasus's magenta eyes narrowed, and she extended her hoof downward to meet Bon Bon's in a hoof bump. "Challenge accepted." Finding that an acceptable answer, she started to fly off.

"Wait," the earth pony called after her, "I forgot rule number five."

"What?"

The smile on Bon Bon's face looked almost too cheerful, and Rainbow Dash had to admit that if the mare would be going for a villain role, she could be pretty darn good at it with her expression and voice.

"Don't die."

As the cyan pegasus completed her account, Fluttershy only seemed more afraid than before. "But why'd you have to bring me here?"

Rainbow tried not to look as exasperated as she felt. "You're my best friend, and Bon Bon knows that you wouldn't lie about our adventure when we come back."

Fluttershy squeaked in reply, attempting to focus her thoughts away from replacing "when we come back" with "if we come back"..

"Wow, it really is like that one abandoned house in Daring Do and the House on Haunted Hill..." A grin spread across the cyan pegasus's face, her rainbow-hued mane standing out in the sinister lighting. She nudged her companion. "Come on, Fluttershy, time for us to take a trip inside! Sounds like it could be fun, right?"

Fluttershy cringed and stepped back, wide teal eyes gazing upward at the imposing building. This definitely did not look like the kind of friendly place she was used to back in Ponyville, and she wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the creepy old asylum as possible. "Um...I'm not sure, Rainbow Dash. I've heard some grim stories about Blackthorn Asylum."

The words got Rainbow's attention. "Like what?" Though she recalled Bon Bon mentioning the asylum was centuries old, she hadn't elaborated on any particular stories.

The timid yellow pegasus whimpered slightly, averting her eyes from the asylum in question as her long pink mane hid her face. "When I mentioned I was going there with you tonight, Roseluck told me that the Shadow King and Crystal Princess used to run the asylum."

"Shadow King? Crystal Princess?" Magenta eyes bright, the cyan pegasus lowered herself to the ground. "Who are they?"

Fluttershy gulped. "She told me that Shadow King and the Crystal Princess were ponies really involved in dark magic. The Shadow King wanted nothing but power, and he became so consumed by the dark magic that he turned into a living shadow himself, and he used his dark magic to form a pony from crystal, almost as shadow-like and evil as he was. They built the asylum and trapped the inmates here and put them through terrible tortures until they tore each other apart." She swallowed hard. "And I also heard they'd morph the inmates into crystal and shatter their bodies if they resisted long enough, and then they'd become part of the building and..." She closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought, stepping back and looking like she was going to fly out of there any second.

If anything, that only seemed to make Rainbow Dash more eager to go in. "Wow, a place with a cursed history? Sounds awesome!"

Fluttershy stammered, eyes wide. "But Rainbow Dash... what if the stories are true?"

"Relax," Rainbow assured her friend, appearing to harbor none of the fear Fluttershy possessed. "This place has been abandoned for centuries. We'll probably just see a few of the cells and a skeleton or two-"

Fluttershy squeaked.

"-but that doesn't mean that we'll run into anypony. Even if it is true, they're long gone."

"I hope you're right..." Fluttershy trailed off, her fears still not entirely eased by Rainbow's attempt at consoling. It was clear that the stories of this being a terrible legacy to the power of shadow magic was still nagging at her mind.

Unbeknownst to the pair, the old asylum wasn't completely abandoned after all. A lone figure watched them from a window in the asylum's higher towers, the windowpane dusty with age from the outside.

Their onlooker was a young pink alicorn, her gradient, purple-tipped wings folded at her sides. The crystal heart on her flank briefly flashed brieflyher eyes appearing to brighten.

"Well, well, well..."

The expression on the alicorn's face brightened, her pink eyes appearing to house a rekindled spark. "Hmm, about time some others showed up. It was starting to get a little dull around here with the same old inmates to torment..." She turned behind her, peering into the darkness behind her. It was clear that she wasn't the only being watching the new arrivals.

At first, it seemed that no one was there, only the darkness keeping the mare company. But soon enough, the shadows appeared to condense into a more solidified form. From out of the gloom, two bright red eyes materialized, gazing at the alicorn curiously.

"Doctor, I see we have some new guests arriving, I'll get everything ready for them." The grin on the alicorn's face grew, looking much more malicious than kind.

The shadow-like stallion stepped out of the darkness to stand beside her, letting out a slight huff of irritation. "Not right away. Come now, Cadenza, they're our guests... Let us make their last moments nice for the time being..."

The mare bowed in respect, a smirk on her face that she was relieved her guests couldn't see. Though there were times where they wanted to see their "guests" on edge right away, they did like to have a little fun pretending every now and then. Her superior did have a satisfyingly sinister habit of tricking visitors with false placidity at first before their torment began.

"Yes, of course, Doctor Sombra."

With a mixture of curiosity and fear, the pair of pegasai below stepped forward through the heavy iron gates of the asylum, all sound around them appearing to be muted. There was no blowing of the wind against their coats, no crinkle of dry leaves under their hooves, no creaking branches reaching out to grab them. There was only the faint sounds of their steps as their hooves propelled them forward.

Reaching the door and pushing it open with a creak, the two of them stepped inside.

Neither noticed that in that same moment, the rusted gates of the asylum closed, and an ethereal shield briefly flashed above.

Cadenza smiled from the upper floor. It was time to go greet the new visitors.