Reviews:
the suave fucker: Jesus Christ, what is it with you people?!
Dragon'z Wrath:
Mark: Not sure about MILF, but if I wasn't with AJ and I had no idea who she was; ILF. Dawn never commented about her being a mother, but Cadence had to come from somewhere. Even though he pretty much lived in Ponyville since it was built by the Apples. (Kinda like our hometown, now that I think of it...)
iTsTealblast: The 'i' is silent. Actually sounds like soljur, but that's English for ya.
Anyway, that's a common mistake, so I won't yell at you for making it.
spartan1735:
Mark: Kinda hard to give him something when he's in a different city! Dude's in Canterlot as a blacksmith to the crown.
garebare65: I didn't write the first part! That was my co-author's doing.
Author's Note: I'm trying a different writing style, so bear with me. It's mostly just the way I paragraph stuff, nothing seriously impacting the story.
Second Nightmare Night entry, recovered from an undisclosed location.
This time, we decided to lay off the zombies and put investments in games and shit.
Naturally, I ended up with Dawn working a Haunted House.
For my costume, I was a certain person all humans have been visited by already. I had it finished a day ago, and when Dawn saw it, he tweaked it up to make it awesomer.
Needless to say, we had something awesome planned for them. Especially after we did a trial run before, and we got to Filthy Rich with only a few jumps, where something fell on us.
So, if you're reading this (fuck you, by the way), don't get really confused by what I write when I say something about 'before'.
Shouldn't be anyone confused, since this is a journal and not a fucking book.
[2134, outside Filthy Rich's mansion]
"Who dares to approach the house of horrors?" I darkly intoned, lifting the scythe up slightly and slamming it on the ground with a dull thump. Dawn changed my appearance in a few key ways, adding glowing red orbs to the skull sockets that only other people could see, completely remaking my scythe into something that Death would actually carry to ceremonially kill people, and adding an overlay of some kind of bony substance on my gloves.
Of the four ponies before me, I only recognized two: Flitter and Cloudchaser. I didn't know the stallions with them. Although, I think I gave 'em massages before. "We do," the stallion said, obviously trying to be a tough guy for the mares.
"Ye are all of age. Do ye all truly wish to enter?" I asked.
"Of course!" the other stallion said, smiling.
I slammed the staff down again and the door opened behind me. "I am Charon and will guide your way this night. Come." I began slowly shuffling into the house, giving them plenty of time to follow me. "There are many things in life of which to be afraid," I calmly said, waiting until they were all inside before turning. "Tell me, what do you expect to find in this house?"
"Nothing much," the first stallion said. The two mares both rolled their eyes at his shitty bravado.
"Then we shall see how you manage." When I said that, the doors slammed shut behind them, locking instantly. "Come. Dark things lurk in these halls and it would not do to stand still for them."
"Hmph. Spooky," the other guy mocked as they all started following me into the dark building, mist licking at their hooves but seeming to completely avoid me.
As we walked further in, a faint sound of laughter slowly became apparent. It wasn't normal laughter, either happy or dark. It was an insane laugh, something summoned forth from a broken mind. The girls seemed to be somewhat worried by it and the stallions lost a little bit of their bravado, but one of them quipped, "Somepony telling a bad joke up there?"
"There are many ways for a pony to succumb to fear," I said. "One is to lose himself in it, to find everything funny. His mind grows so blank with horror that it cracks, making everything he sees into some kind of sick, sick joke…" A shadow flickered to our left and we could hear someone running very, very close. "...And as every good clown knows, his goal in life is to share jokes."
The same guy from before jumped out from the right, but this time his costume and design were completely different. Dawn did something to his eyes, turning them from a rich orange to a sickly glowing yellow. The smile he had painted on before now appeared as a frown and the red makeup seemed wet, as though he had been eating flesh and drinking blood. The outfit he wore was in complete tatters and smeared with unidentifiable substances.
Each one of the ponies behind me squealed when the clown stepped into view. The fellow laughed for a few seconds before immediately stopping and gazing at my charges with wide, wide eyes. "How does one get a stallion down from a tree?" he asked in a voice that didn't match his lips. There was ten seconds of silence before he snarled, "ANSWER ME!"
"H-How?" one of the mares whimpered.
The clown grinned, showing chipped and broken teeth, each blackened slightly. Then he held up a noose. "You cut the rope!" Suddenly, another rope dropped down from the ceiling, landing on one of the stallions I was supposed to be guarding. All four of them screamed and huddled together until my scythe reached out and cut the rope hanging from the ceiling.
"Run." I whispered. They needed no further compelling, each galloping forward as quickly as they could go. I followed at a more sedate pace, the butt of my scythe tapping on the ground dully with each step.
I caught up with them at the next door, which they couldn't open without me. "Hey uh… I think we saw enough," one of the stallions quickly said. "This place is kinda lame and-"
"There is no leaving," I said, stepping past their group. "You go until you reach the end. That is the way of life and what is life without fear?"
"That's not cool at all!"
Instead of answering, I tapped my staff on the floor twice, opening the next door. "Then I suggest you conquer your fears quickly. Worse things remain ahead." I had a feeling they all shared very uneasy looks before falling in behind me. "Death and decay come for all eventually," I said, peering into a bowl of spaghetti that Dawn animated to look like worms. "We rot and they play…" One of my hands reached out and caressed the top of the bowl before continuing on.
None of them commented.
"When it does come for you…" I started looking at a bowl of eyes. "...will you accept it? Or will you linger on, bringing fear and pain unto those you refuse to leave behind?"
A ghost fell from the ceiling, considerably better animated than before. It actually appeared to be on fire, though a deep chill rather than heat came from the blue flames on it. Once more, all the ponies squealed, trying to get around it. But the ghost didn't appear to like that and it snatched Flitter up, slowly dragging her into one of the dark corners. She burst into tears, using her hooves to claw uselessly at the floor. The others just scrambled to the other door, beating on it with their hooves.
I calmly used my scythe to bisect the ghost, dispelling it and 'saving' Flitter. "The dead must always move on," I said, helping her shaking form stand. "As must the living."
"T-thank you," she whispered, huddling against me.
"Charon guides all," I answered, ignoring her thanks and leading her up to the group. "Conquer your fears, ponies. Once more, worse things lie ahead."
"I don't wanna go on!" Cloudchaser said.
"The only way out is forward," I answered, tapping my staff twice more, opening door number three. "Come." I once more started walking, leading them into the brighter room that looked like something out of a Tim Burton version of Jungle Book. Evil spiders danced about in the vegetation above us, Luna's animation spell bringing the flimsy stuffed spiders to life in the most horrifying of ways. Each pony eyed them with unrestrained fear.
While spiders owned the top, large snakes ruled the bottom, slithering through the undergrowth and around the legs of each pony. Once more, each of them seemed to avoid me, going out of their way to not touch me.
"While some fear the dead, others fear the living," I said. "Spiders that climb, snakes that slither…" We suddenly heard several branches snapping to our right. "...and other creatures that are even larger. After all, there is no greater fear than the monster that lies inside, waiting to be released."
The 'zebra' from before jumped out behind the group, war paint covering his face and large piercings in each of his ears. He had a collection of dried scalps and ears hanging from his neck and a crazed look in his eyes. "Chew the flesh, mash the bones!" he howled, charging us. The ponies screamed again and took off running deeper into the jungle, toward the next door.
I wrapped my hand around the zebra's neck and used the leverage and his momentum to sling myself around his neck, essentially riding him as he chased the ponies to the door. When we finally caught up to where they were all groveling and pawing at the door in horror, I used the scythe to slit the zebra's throat, relying on the enchantments Dawn said he was using to not hurt the poor guy.
The enchants worked, because he slowly ground to a halt before falling right before the group, fake blood leaking from his neck. All four of the ponies were crying now.
"The living only give you fear if you do not resist them," I said, calmly walking to the group and through them, not sparing any of them a glance.
"I wanna go home!" one of the stallions wailed.
"Then find your courage," I said, tapping my staff twice more, opening the next door. They reluctantly followed, none of them wanting anything more to do with this place. If I hadn't saved them from every monster they'd run into, they probably would have all abandoned me just to run to the next door. As it was, they huddled as close to me as they could get. "Some fear pain," I simply said, turning my head to the left.
A light suddenly turned on, revealing a dentist ripping a tooth out of a mare's mouth as she cried and writhed in her bonds, groaning in pain and horror. Both of her hindlegs were nailed into the upwards stretcher she was on and her eyes pleaded with us to help her.
The ponies with me froze, their eyes stuck on her. However, the dentist followed her pleading gaze and saw us. We could see her mouth move under the mask she wore in what might have been a rictus grin. "New customers," she growled, her horn lighting up. This time it was Cloudchaser that was grabbed and she dragged her struggling form to another stretcher, forcing the straps around her. "I'm thinking… eye surgery," she said, lifting her drill up and turning it on.
I don't need to add, of course, that Cloudchaser was screaming the whole time and so were her friends. As the dentist leaned in to start her dark work, I rushed in, kicking the drill from her hoof and using the butt of the scythe to push her back. As she tried to recover, I cut Cloudchaser's bindings loose, allowing her to bolt away without a backwards glance. The other three were already gone, leaving us all behind.
"Be more careful next time," the mare muttered, rubbing at where I hit her. I muttered an apology.
"Some ponies fear pain," I happily said, walking away. When I joined the four this time, they were all huddling, holding each other. "Pain is impermanent. Life goes on and pain can be forgotten."
"I won't go anymore!" Cloudchaser yelled. "I won't! I-" The sound of a drill and more screams cut her off.
I tapped my staff twice more, allowing them to sprint into the next room. "Sometimes, we all need a break from things," I said, my voice making a table partially light up. "Refresh. Calm down. Do not wander."
The four of them slowly approached the table. On it were strings of tofu sausages, cups of strawberry juice, a few tofu meatballs, a tub of very dark jelly, and a few other yummy looking things. After several seconds of hesitation, they began to partake.
I allowed them five minutes respite before saying, "It is time for us to move on." As I said that, the rest of the table lit up, revealing a carved up Ditzy, who appeared to be missing her intestines, eyes, blood, brain, and several other organs. I stroked a bony hand across her face, which was frozen in mute horror.
All four of them flipped their shit when they realized what they just ate.
When they finally recovered enough to go on -which took a good while, mind you- I said, "There are three more fears you must all yet face." I tapped my staff on the ground twice, opening the next door. "The next… is the fear of yourselves." I walked into the room of mirrors, allowing them to follow me.
The first thing they noticed is that my reflection didn't appear in any of the mirrors. The second thing they realized is that neither did theirs. Or at least, not their own reflections. No, what confronted them were several reflections. Some were them at old ages. Some were them after a few months of being dead. Some were normal. And there were some that didn't match any of what I said.
After about the fifth mirror, each had their eyes glued to my back, trying their hardest not to look to the side. Every time one did so, I heard a soft whimper or groan behind me. "There are many things to be afraid of. But you will always be yourself. Why fear it? Revel in what you are and fear not what you will become. By the time you become it, the skin will fit you so well it'll be like you never changed at all."
That room was probably the second most disturbing room for all of them, since it showed a very real concern that each had. And of course, I loved every minute of it. It's not every day I get to terrorize ponies and get away with it.
You can call me a bad person, and I'll reply the same for reading this.
When we got to the next door, I stopped. "The going will become tough from here," I said.
"It was already impossible!" one of the stallions yelled. "Without you, we'd be dead!"
"You're the only reason we're still here," Flitter said. "If even you think it'll be tough…" The other two just whimpered as I tapped my staff twice.
The door slowly opened, revealing an entirely empty room. I walked in, the four of them reluctantly following me. "The next fear you must face is simple but dark," I said. "It is all-consuming and can devour even the stoutest of souls. It is the fear of…" All the lights went out in the room and they all jumped and whimpered in fear. "...abandonment," I whispered, the sound echoing softly through the room.
When the lights popped back on, I was no longer in the room with them, or at least not that they saw. Dawn had a spell of invisibility that he used on me, allowing me to watch and step in if needed.
They all freaked the fuck out when they realized I wasn't there anymore, especially after what they had said before about how they only made it with my help. After a minute or two of panicking, one of the stallions took a deep breath and got his shit together. "We have to keep moving!" he called, trying to get order over his little group. "Charon said there was only one more fear left. We have to get past it!"
"But only he could open the doors!" Flitter yelled.
"No, only he did open the doors. All he did was tap his staff twice!" the stallion said, walking over to the next door. He tapped his hoof on the floor twice, making the door open. "See? We have to keep going."
"But… what if we run into something?" Cloudchaser asked. "We only made it because he saved us!"
"We'll protect you," the other stallion said, grinning.
The two mares gulped, but walked to the door. The first stallion led the way, them behind him, and the other stallion behind them. I followed before the door could slide shut. They were now in what they thought was the final room.
"This… doesn't seem so bad," Flitter whispered, looking around.
She spoke too soon. When the last word came from her mouth, a dark blue misty form shot out of the final door, slowly coalescing into Nightmare Moon. "Dost thou truly think ye can escape?!" she yelled with her Royal Canterlot Voice. "WE SHALL NOT ALLOW IT!" I'm still very glad she agreed to do this, or else we'd have to get Luna to do it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to see the result of that final battle, as I had to get back in place. I quietly rushed past the group and into the next door and then used my staff to seal it back, walking to the center of the room. I faced away from the door as the invisibility spell faded, just waiting.
Soon enough, it opened and the four ponies entered, panting for breath. It slid shut behind them, cutting off dark cackling. "We… we made it!" one of the stallions said.
"Charon!" Flitter called. "Why'd you leave us?!"
"I lied to you," I slowly said, not turning. "Twice. First, my name is not Charon. And second, there is one more fear you yet have to face."
"Well, we already beat Nightmare Moon!" the leader stallion cockily said. "What else can this place throw at us?"
I didn't answer until the four of them got close enough to me. Then I slammed the butt of my staff down again, making them stop. I slowly started to turn, reaching up to pull back my hood. "My name is Death," I said, revealing the skull that Dawn had carved dozens of horrifying symbols upon. "Your final fear is betrayal!" I shouted, lifting my scythe up and bringing it down, just barely missing the leading stallion.
They all jumped back in horror, their beloved protector and guide turning on them.
"Stand still and let me drag you to Tartarus!" I hissed, swiping at one of the mares. She squealed and used her wings to fly over me, running to the wall where a door should have been. The others crowded around that wall, all trying to tap a door open as I stalked forward, my red eyes glowing brighter and brighter. "Submit to your fate!" With one last swipe, I dragged the scythe through the air all of them previously occupied as a trap door under them opened, sending their screaming forms down to the final room, where Filthy Rich and Dawn waited to congratulate them.
I smiled grimly and used a teleportation pad that Dawn cooked up in twenty seconds to arrive at the entrance and prepare for round 2.
At the end of the night, Filthy and Dawn told me that not a single pony stayed in that room long enough to talk to him. They all bolted from the house, screaming, as soon as they could. Humans on the other hand...
Well, only Blake, Duffy, Judy, and Callum stayed behind long enough to get their prizes. And that was by working together. I'm not gonna lie; I was expecting fewer humans staying behind. Facing your fears ain't easy, and they proved it tenfold.
All in all, not something your average Haunted House would give you.
This pleased me to no end. Dawn and Lunacae were happy, too.
'Daddy, why do you look different from Mom?' Apple to Mark.
'Because the barrels got to me.' Mark's reply. 'Actually, it's because I'm a human.'
'Could you become a pony?'
'Yes, but Big Mac may or may not be infatuated with that form.'