As I sit at my desk, a typewriter sat in front of me, worn with age as its once shiny chrome details faded through the ages. I look over my shoulder to see my marefriend, Rushing Wings, lying peacefully in bed, enthralled in her dreams. I feel her desire for me to join her, but I cannot, for the gears of a plan developed through the aeons have been put into motion, a macrocosmic machine involving every pony, every sapient being, be there others outside our beautiful Equestria. This astronomical machine, a device of eldritch nature… It wouldn’t have awoken if not by my imbecilic actions. Let me tell you the story of how we got to this point…
It was during the Summer Sun Festival, as Celestia was raising that glorious, fiery orb high into the air, its beams cutting through the clouds with a brilliance rarely seen in our world. I sat down next to my beautiful Rushie, giving her a peck on her viridian cheek, my fingers running through her silken hair as we lay back on the grass. My mind drifts off into thought, thought flowing freely through my mind, thoughts of love, happiness, adventure…
“Hey hon? Whatcha thinking about?”
My ears perk up as Rushie snapped me out of my little trance, “Oh… Nothing much. Just thinking about all the good times we had, thinking about our future and whatnot, you know?”
She snrked, playfully punching me on my arm, “That sounds just like you, Nova, getting so caught up in your meditations that you ignore what’s right in front of you. I worry about you sometimes, I feel like we’ve been growing a bit distant…” She sighs and looks dejectedly at the grass. I look over at her and caress her cheek gently.
“Hon, I’m sorry if it seems like I’ve grown cold, but I’ve been having… Bad dreams… REALLY bad dreams… I’ve been so worried about them, they were so vivid, so real…”
“Do you want to talk about it, Nova?” She asked, looking into my eyes with the concern of a lover, worried about her marefriend. A little twinge, a tug hit me right in my chest, an electric shock. How I despised those words. Rather, I despised the implications of those words. In talking about it, I’d have to relive it. Relive those nightmares of death, corruption, genocide…
“Rushie… You know how I feel about them… Though I should probably tell you a LITTLE, at least…” I flutter my wings a bit, my midnight blue coat and feathers satiny in the sunlight. “These dreams, these nightmares were so realistic, so vivid. I could feel everything, smell everything… Even TASTE everything… It was so horrific. I saw my friends and family killed in front of my eyes, dismembered and eviscerated, left to die twitching on the ground, writhing in agony, begging me to put them out of their misery…” By this point, tears are streaming down my cheeks, my emerald eyes bloodshot and welling up, the tears falling in little rivulets, winding their way along my cheekfur as they fall to the ground as a melancholy rain. I curl up and lean against Rushie, nestling up against her as she wraps her arms and wings around me, nuzzling me in an attempt to comfort me.
“Nova Dash… They’re just nightmares, you should know that! You already know that you’re tough as nails, you shouldn’t let some silly dreams beat you down like this!”
I giggled weakly, I guess I just wanted to satiate her, “I guess you’re right, Rushie. They are just dreams, after all…” Deep in my mind, I know that was a lie. A bold faced lie, told not only to the one I love, but right to the face of the goddamn universe. I can feel something coming up, as if by some divine force the universe is going to right that little transgression of mine… I just know it.
As we head back to our place in a little suburb of Manehattan, I look up at the stars, gazing into that endless void, pocked with little twinkling sparkles, wondering what may be out there, what noticed me, my pathetic existence, just a pony on a planet, in this endless void we call the universe.
“Hey Nova, when we get home, wanna play a couple games of Clop of Duty or Silent Ponyville 3? Maybe it’ll take your mind off those silly dreams.” She suggested, trying her best to comfort me.
“Sure, Rushie, sounds like a plan.” I sigh as we walk down the street, our shoes rustling the gravel lined sidewalks, lit brightly by the streetlights. We come upon our home, a nice little condominium, nestled up against the forestline. We enter into our abode and simultaneously plop down onto our sofa, firing up our PonyStation 2, we play most of the night away.
“Hey Rushie, I think I’m headed off to bed, wanna come with or do you wanna keep popping those gryphon domes?” I ask her, as for the first time in a long while I actually want to sleep.
“Nah, I’ll play for a few more minutes, then I’ll hit the sack. Love ya!” She says with her youthful energy. I dreaded she’d say that, as I’ve been expecting… something to happen tonight. Something big.
I head up the stairs and lay down on our bed, curling up with a pillow, slowly drifting off to sleep…
I awake suddenly, the sound of an air raid siren blaring, deafening to my ears. I wince and look around, I’m not home, I don’t know WHERE I am. It looks like some sort of mansion, decayed through the ages. “This must have been built right after the great war between the races, judging by the architecture…” I look around, taking in the Gothic architecture, the stone pillars and frescoes decorating the walls and corridors, stained with the soil of time. I meander through the halls, the smell of mold and decay permeating the dank air, the siren still going off as I notice something… odd going on. I look behind me and I see this blood-red substance slowly growing along the floors and walls, corroding away at those frescoes and wallpaper to expose some sort of organic substance, like muscle, muscle pocked with cancerous tumors. That flesh pulsed and writhed as I run for my life down that corridor, the flesh growing quickly behind me, some protuberance starting to form from it, the flesh growing along a skeleton of barbed wire, forming some disgusting creature. As I run down that corridor, the meshed-flesh creation following me, slowly gaining on me. I start to panic and sprint, using all my energy to propel myself forward, even taking to flight, though it soon proves futile as the corridor lengthens suddenly, ripping itself forward in space. This place does NOT want me to live… I am taken aback by a sudden pain, as tendrils of wire jut out from the walls, ensnaring me, entwining my arms and legs, the wires piercing into my skin, working their way into my flesh. I scream out in agony, the pain excruciating as the wire melds with me, wrapping around my bones and piercing my organs. It stitches my eyelids open, so as to force me to watch my impending death as that fleshy mass throws itself at me…
I awake, not even making a sound, these dreams having become so familiar to me that I dread going to sleep, as I know that even in my dreams I cannot find solace from these horrors. Rushie is mumbling in her sleep, smiling. How I wish I could know and experience what sweet dreams my love has, oh how I desire to delve into her dreamworld. The urge to know peace, to know solace from this nightly torture, how I wish I could just end it… I wake Rushie up, the mare groggily coming to.
“Hey… Whatcha think you’re doing? Do you KNOW what time it is?” She grumbles, irritated. Must have been some awesome dream, huh?
“Oh, I just had another one of those dreams, I really don’t wanna go back to sleep so could you uhm…. Stay up with me? Maybe go for a walk?” I ask sheepishly, hoping she’d say yes.
“Yeah, I guess… Though you’ll pay for this in the morning!” Rushie replies in her trademark playful fashion.
So as we set off into the night, something seems… Off. I can’t put my mind to it, but it’s just… Wrong feeling. It feels like how nails on a chalkboard sounds, you know? It’s so off putting, but I soldier on.
“What’s up, hon? You look REALLY nervous, and my Nova is NEVER this nervous?” She asks, a worrisome tone lining her voice.
“I… I just have an incredibly bad feeling about something, can’t put my finger on it…” I notice a path jutting into the woods, having never seen this it piques her curiosity. “Hey babe, you ever see that path over there? By the woods?” I point it out to her.
“Hmm… I don’t think so? Why’d you ask? Wanna go check it out?” She asks, “Or are you too chicken to?”
Of course that sets me off a little, being all on edge. “Alright, let’s fucking do this. What do we have to lose, anyways?”
As soon as I said that… I got this horrible feeling in my gut, wanting to back out. However, knowing Rushie, once I agree to something, I’m in it until the end. As we meander down the path, Rushie pulls out her cell phone, using it as a flashlight, illuminating the twisted path. I see a light in the distance and start running towards it, the compulsion growing more intense the farther down the path I go.
“HEY! Wait up! The hell’s gotten into you, Nova? First you’re all chicken and now you’re dashing off into the wild blue yonder going to who knows where?!” She yells, agitated. I look back at her and slow down, waiting for her to catch up. Suddenly, I trip and smack my head on something.
“ACK!” I roll over onto my back, my vision going double, warbling back and forth, a loud ringing overtaking my hearing. “Ow… My fucking head… Stupid root…”
“ARE YOU OKAY?!” Rushie asks, running over to me, helping me get to my feet.
“I think so, that was a nasty bump…” I reach up to touch my forehead, I feel a small sting and feel some moistness dribbling down the side of my face, “Guess I’m bleeding, too. Huh.”
“Yeah, Nova… You sure you’re alright? I don’t want you passing out on me here.”
“Yeah, I’m alright. Let’s get going.”
As we make our way down the path, a form starts to take shape along the horizon, at first seeming amorphous, before slowly becoming more and more defined, eventually taking the shape of a house. This house, aged through the years, was ornately decorated. Frescoes and Pillars, a nice fountain depicting armored Pegasi holding their swords in victory, wrought iron fencing, all these beautiful things, covered in ivy and creepers through the ages. The fountain lay dormant, it’s water stagnant and covered with scum, the smell dank on the cool night air. We make our way closer and closer, passing through iron trellises, dead roses entwined with its iron framework, our boots thumping against the cobblestone path, the house’s visage growing larger as we grow closer. I get that feeling again, less intense but more festering, if you can understand what I’m saying.
Eventually we come upon the threshold, the doors large and wooden, carved intricately in a depiction of Tartarus, the mythical afterlife where those who have committed horrid acts against theirselves or others went to pay their proverbial dues. The grotesque and disturbing carving depicting graphic scenes of torment and suffering, ponies writhing as they’re burned alive, screaming out as their skin is flayed, all the while remaining conscious. I shudder and look over at Rushie, glancing over at the knocker. “Hey, think we should knock for shits and giggles?”
She looks at me with one of those suspicious glares, “Sure, Einstein. Don’t think anyone’s gonna answer, though. Looks abandoned.”
I snrk and knock loudly, the thumps piercing the quiet night air. I wait patiently for a while, thinking that no one will answer, but hoping that someone does, just to prove Rushie wrong. I’m taken aback as the door creaks open, a female Zebra standing in the doorway, a bandanna over her head and wearing an old dress, looks like from a hundred or so years ago. “Hello, young mares. What may I do for you?” She asks politely, a heavy accent on her voice. I can tell she immigrated here from her motherland.
“Uhm… I’m not sure, ma’am, my friend and I were just walking through the woods and we came upon this mansion. We thought it was abandoned, I’m truly sorry if I woke you up, we really just wanted to look around.” I said sheepishly, hopefully my explanation would have kept her from calling the police.
“It is fine, young mare. How rude of me to not introduce myself, my name is Korina and I’m the caretaker of this estate. Now, who may you be, young ones?”
I look over at the mare, she looks to be about middle aged, even though she’s dressed from our antebellum period, just after the war. “My name is Nova Dash, and this here is my marefriend Rushing Wings, you could call her Rushie, for short. How nice it is to meet you, Korina.” She nudges Rushie with her elbow, shooting her some daggers with a fierce look.
“Yeah, I’m Rushie. Sorry for waking you up, if my derpy friend here didn’t drag me out here you’d still be asleep. Though you COULD have removed the condemned sign” Korina closed her eyes and sighed, putting on a smile in light of that… comment.
“It is of no problem to me, it’s been so long since I’ve had visitors. Feel free to come in, would you like tea and something to eat?” She offers, her zebra hospitality shining brightly as she leads us into the house and into the rotunda. The room is lit dimly by a candelabra, the flickering lights causing the crystal ornaments to glimmer in the darkness. I sit down at the wooden table, in a nice chair, cushioned nicely with velvet covers. I look back to see Korina carrying a silver platter, a beautiful tea set made of polished silver gleaming in the dim light, the smell of exotic herbs and spices fill the air as she brings out a plate of small spice cakes. “Here, you two, have some tea and cakes, they’re a very special family recipe made with spices from my homeland. Enjoy, and afterwards if you want I could show you around the place!” She smiles and goes off to a little nook and picks up a book, reading to pass the time.
“So, Rushie, what do you think of all this?” I ask her, looking into her eyes, sparkling in the light.
“Well, I think it’s nice and all, but why the buck did you have to wake me up? It must be midnight or something!” She replied in her… Endearing tone.
Korina peeked up from her book, “Oh, ladies. I forgot to tell you, but we’ll be having more company later on. I’ll show all of you around then, so feel free to wander around. Don’t get lost, though, it’s an incredibly large mansion.”
I look over to her, smiling. “We won’t, I’ll make sure to keep Rushie in check for a while. These cakes are DELICIOUS though, thank you so much for your hospitality. ACK!” I grab my head once more, a shock of pain emanating from her wound.
“Are you alright, Miss Nova?” Korina said as she walked briskly over to me, looking at my wound. “Oh dear, this looks pretty nasty. It isn’t severe though, I should probably clean it up for you.”
“That… would be very nice of you, Korina. I’d greatly appreciate it.” I replied, smiling weakly. Korina walks off, in search of some bandages and disinfectants while Rushie paces around the room, checking out the decorations.
“Well, isn’t this quaint, a beautiful painting of somepony holding a decapitated head. It’s just delicious, wouldn’t you agree Nova?” She snrked, slightly amused at the morbid painting. “What kinda creep collects stuff like this? I mean really, it’s like something out of that video game you like.”
I glare at her as Korina comes back in the room holding some gauze and a bottle of alcohol. “Ah, Nova, you’re alright I see. Miss Rushie is checking out that painting, eh? There’s a story behind it, you know. It was painted during the Great Equestrian War. It shows the great Pegasus warrior Thunder Crash holding the head of the Unicorn general, Mana Vortex. That’s what ended the war, you know? The Unicorns treated both of the other races as inferior because they couldn’t use magic. It’s interesting how they based judgments off such petty and arbitrary measurements.
Korina starts cleaning me up, I wince as the alcohol stings. She wraps the bandage around my forehead, my mane sticking out of it somewhat neatly. I perk my ears as I hear knocks resounding through the rotunda. “Huh, the other guests must be here, right Korina?”
She nods and heads over to the entranceway. “It’ll only be a moment, Miss Nova.” She turns her back and walks off down the corridor, her footsteps reverberating in the cavernous rotunda. I hear her open the door, and the sound of more ponies entering the house echoes down the hall.
“So, our mystery guests are finally here, huh? What kind of party is it without guests, anyways?” Rushie chimed in her trademark sarcastic way. I get up out of the chair, regain my balance and walk down the hallway, eager to meet the other guests.
“So, my dear snark, would you like to come with me to meet the rest, or would you rather walk in circles like a headless cockatrice?” I reply, equally as sarcastic. Rushie snorts and follows beside me. As we approach the threshold, I see two other ponies standing in the doorway alongside Korina.
“Hello, my name is Nova Dash, and this is my marefriend Rushing Wings, Rushie for short. We are honored to meet you, and to be guests of the very hospitable Korina here. Now, who may you be?” I asked the first pony, he’s a bit older, his mane is graying, got a few wrinkles around his eyes. He’s holding a camera.
“I’m Eternal Snapshot, Eddie for short, and I’m a professional photographer, working for The Equestrian Daily, pleased to meet you, Miss Dash. And this mare standing next to me is my wife, Sunset Whisper. She’s a writer, working alongside me for the Daily.”
I stroke my chin, smiling before extending a hand to the two. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, isn’t it, Rushie.”
She grumbles and reluctantly extends a hand as well. “I guess so… What brings you two here, anyways? Bored in the middle of the night as well?”
Eddie stifles a laugh, “I guess, Rushie, we kinda came here on a whim to document the history of this place for the paper. You know it has a really spotty history, right?” He cracks a small smile.
“It does, huh?” Rushie asks, “What happened? Some great and powerful pony die of boredom? Because I can’t think of anything else that could happen in a place like this.”
Eddie’s smile faded as he looked at her grimly, “No, in fact. Though you are partially correct, there HAVE been deaths, numerous deaths. Most were very grisly, that is why we’re here, we wanna show the history of this place to the rest of Equestria. Would you like to hear about it, perhaps?”
Rushie snorted while my eyes lit up, as I’ve always been intrigued by the history of places, the morbidity not putting me off at all. “Absolutely! I would LOVE to hear about it, I’m kind of a history geek. Rushie however doesn’t care too much about this kinda stuff, it makes her squick, you know.”
Korina chimes in, “Excuse me fellows, would you mind if I left a bit to make a late night dinner? What pairs perfectly with a story than some dinner and wine?”
“Oh, that would be just DIVINE, Korina. We’d be so grateful if you did!” Sunset chirped, smiling happily. “Come on, Eddie. Let’s go take a seat, shall we?” He nodded as we all headed to the rotunda, waiting.
About an hour passed, the clock chiming a funereal tune. “How eerie! It just sends shivers RIGHT down my spine, Eddie!” Sunset commented.
“Yeah… Chills alright. Speaking of chills, it’s freezing in here? And where did Korina go? I’m starving!”
“Oh hush, Eddie.” Rushie chipped in, “You ain’t the only pony here who’s bored and hungry!” I punched her on her upper arm, shooting her a look that could kill.
“Forgive her, please. She’s kinda… Rough around the edges, but she’ll grow on you, just like a foot fungus that you can’t get rid of!” I laughed with the other two as Korina returned, carrying a few casseroles and platters.
“Oh! Here’s our food! It smells awesome, doesn’t it, Sunset?” Eddie yelped in joy.
“Yes dear, must be some snazzy ethnic food, can’t you smell all those exotic spices?”
Sunset exclaimed the obvious. The strong, heady, earthy smells of the food permeated the air like a cloud of smog, but in a good way. I looked over the cornucopia of choices laid in front of me, various breads, stews, soups all graced the table, along with some nice Canterlotian wine.
Eddie grabbed the bottle, looking it over, he is taken aback by something, “OH CELESTIA!”
“WHAT?!” Sunset yelped, nearly falling out of her chair as she’s startled.
“Oh, it’s just a REALLY good year… Really old too, looks like… 1940? FANTASTIC year!” Eddie squealed like a schoolgirl. Sunset scowled and bonked him on the head, irritated that he scared her shitless. Korina eventually sat down and cleared her throat.
“So, I promised to tell you four the story of this house, and so I will. A long, long time ago, a wealthy mare named Graceful Wings married a proud stallion. He was a soldier in the Pegasus-Earth Pony Alliance, his name was Thunder Crash, and he’s the pony depicted in that painting, holding the head of the Unicorn general, having slain him Thunder freed all the ponies from their rule. He and Graceful funded the building of this mansion with the spoils he gained. While it was being built, he and Graceful went on a year-long honeymoon to Saddle Arabia, near the border of the Zebra kingdom. While they were out there, Graceful came down with a great sickness, one said to be carried by Stallions and suffered by Mares. So, Thunder found a local witch doctor, and she nursed Graceful back to health. Their friendship grew greatly through the year, so much so that when she returned, she decided to take that Zebra back with her. Now, while they were gone, the house was being built. A whole group of stallions and mares were assembling the massive structure, when the first of many accidents happened. A sheet of stone slipped out of its holder on the crane, plummeting to the ground and bisecting the poor pony standing under it. That is what gave this house its taste for blood…” She paused, the rest of us, me included, stood shocked, our mouths agape in horror.
“A few months later, one of the workers showed up late to work, and when he was confronted by the forepony, he took a hammer and embedded it into his boss’ skull. Wanna know what he did next? He sat down, rocked back and forth, and didn’t even resist the police when he was arrested. By this time, Graceful Wings and Thunder Crash returned to the house, finally being completed. They unpacked with their servant and lived peacefully… For a while. They would throw grand parties, with hundreds of other ponies there, and that’s when the disappearances began happening. First it was a fashion designer, she left from the main group to go to the game room, but she got lost on the way. The only thing left of her that they found was her purse, stained heavily with blood. After that incident, the parties grew less and less as Graceful started growing worried about her husband. One day, in the attic, she found him cheating on her with the servant, and she killed them both by pushing them out of the window. They both plummeted four stories down, dying on impact. From that point on, Graceful came down with madness, she would hear voices telling her that she would live forever as long as she kept building the house. That is why, if you decide to go wandering around, you’ll see really bizarre rooms. She built an entire room upside down, staircases going to nowhere, all sorts of weird stuff. She kept building until the day she died.” Korina finished as she polished off her glass of wine, I and the other ponies satisfied with the delicious dinner.
“Damn, Korina, pardon my language, that was one CRAZY story, it all really happened, right? You aren’t just pulling my leg?” Sunset asked, her voice trembling with fear. She nodded, affirming that poor mare’s fears.
“It’s all true, Sunset. Now, it’s pretty late and I assume you are all weary, as late as it is. Would you like me to show you to your rooms?” She asked
“Would you please, I’m exhausted and Rushie is getting pretty cranky. She needs her sleep~” I said in a playfully sarcastic tone, as I am fairly exhausted as well.
“Oh please, Nova. I bet you’re too scared you’ll see some spooks in here.” Rushie stuck out her tongue at me and the others all rolled their eyes. We trek up the stairs, through a few winding corridors as we arrive in the palatial guest wing. I enter my room with Rushie trailing not far behind. She seemed pretty eager to get some sleep, though I would too if my marefriend woke me up in the middle of the night to go on a walk and ended up in a mansion hearing ghost stories. I slipped out of my t-shirt and jeans, relaxing in my boxers and tank top as I slipped under the covers, Rushie soon following suit, before snuggling up to me, wrapping a wing over me as well. “You know, Nova, you can be a royal pain in the ass, but I still love you!”
“I love you too, Rushie. Let’s get some sleep and maybe we can adventure around in the morning.”
I hoped I would have no more nightmares that night…
That night went without a hitch, no nightmares, no nothing. I woke up a little after Rushie, I smiled as I saw she was in better spirits than last night. “Hey hon, I’m sorry bout last night, I didn’t know it’d get so… Complicated. Please forgive me?” I made a sad puppydog face at her, which seemed to have amused her a bit.
“Sure. Let’s go get some breakfast now, shall we?” She said, smiling in her endearing way.
As we headed down the maze of hallways and stairs, we eventually came upon the rotunda, Sunset and Eddie standing, looking around confusedly. “Where’s Korina? Nova, Rushie, you see her at all?”
We shook our heads as I chimed in. “Nah, we just woke up, wanna look around a bit? I mean, maybe we can find her in two groups rather than one?”
We all nodded in agreement as we went our ways. Sunset and Eddie decided to head down the west wing, while we took the east. “Eddie, do you know where you’re taking us? I mean, this place is HUGE!”
He shook his head and replied in a silly tone “Nooooope~” Sunset facepalmed as they walked down those empty corridors, their steps reverberating throughout the seemingly endless passageways. Something caught Sunset’s eye as she suddenly bolted off, rounding a corner speedily. “WAIT UP SUNNY! I can’t catch up with you! … Damn mare, sprinting off and leaving my crusty ass in the dust. Typical.” He sighed as he meandered around the area, peeking into rooms and whatnot before stumbling across a majestic ballroom.
The room was covered wall to wall with Mirrors, an ornate chandelier hanging above a miniature carousel, the horses and ride itself covered in jewels and silk and all sorts of beautiful ornaments. Eddie was enthralled at the beauty of it as he slowly worked his way to the center of the room, passing under numerous skylights. As he finally came upon the carousel, he thought it’d be fun to sit on one of the horses, he shrugged and mounted one, playfully kicking it. “Giddy up! Let’s go, Skybiscuit! Giiiiiddy up!” He was having a damn good time before it started to rotate. He was shocked at first, but eventually he started to find joy in it.
“Damn, this is just like when my folks took me to that Boardwalk park when I was a wee colt. Ah, the memories…” A nostalgic smile graced his face before the ride jerked forward. “The fuck was that?” he asked, being taken aback as the ride spun faster and faster, before flinging him across the room, crashing into one of the mirror walls, cracking a panel. “AH! Fuck… that hurt…” He tried moving, but found he couldn’t. “SHIT! My hip…. I think I broke my hip!” He started screaming, pulling himself along the floor before catching something in the corner of his eye. “HEY! YOU THERE! HELP ME! I BROKE MY HIP!” He screamed, trying to get its attention. He succeeded. The figure slowly made its way towards him, his excitement of being saved slowly fading into horror as the figure gained on him. It was Korina, but it wasn’t the Korina he remembered meeting, she was desiccated, her eye sockets empty and her gums pulled away from her teeth. Her fingers were long and spindly, her figure now skeletal.
“Oh Eddie, why aren’t you grateful to see me? Weren’t you just asking for help just a second ago? Why are you afraid of me?” She asked, mockingly.
“N-no… Get away… GET AWAY FROM ME YOU DEVIL!” He tried throwing his camera at her, but she phased and kneeled right up against him, licking his cheek, her dry, moldy breath (and the idea of being licked by an ancient corpse) caused Eddie to retch. Korina got back on her feet and started to drag Eddie away, his screams fading into the distance as she pulled him right into one of the mirror walls…
Further into the wing, Sunset is worrying about her Eddie. “Eddie? EDDIE?! Where are you?! ANSWER ME!” She begins to panic, running down the corridors, turning corners blindly. Out of nowhere, she begins to hear a siren, its howl like that of a banshee. She quickly covers her ears and screams out. “OH LUNA WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM?!” At this point, she is freaking out, panicking her pretty little head off. She runs for her dear life as the siren stops and she slams into Nova, “OH GOD NOVA, I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!!”
I look at her, clearly worried. As I get to my knees I help her up, “Sunset, calm down. What happened?”
“Eddie’s gone! I can’t find him anywhere!!! Please help me?!”
I nodded and touched her cheek, trying to comfort the hysterical mare. “Alright Sunny, I’ll help you find him. If you can show Rushie and I where you last seen him, we could help you look.”
“Oh… Alright….” Sunset chirped, starting to tear up, “I’m so scared right now, what if something happened to him?”
“I’m sure he’s fine, Sunset. Let’s go, alright?” I replied, trying to calm her down still.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s alright. Maybe he made a nice decoration, maybe some pretty lampshade.” Rushie said, the mare insensitive to Sunset’s state.
“Oh god damn it Rushie, will you cut it out? I mean really, you never used to be such a dick before coming here!” I snapped at her. I instantly regretted it as she began to tear up and run off.
“Goddammit… Why did I have to do that… Fuck, I feel like the biggest jackass of them all. Well, Sunset, we need to find her too, maybe she’ll run into Eddie somewhere?”
Sunset nodded as we walked down the hall.
“Oh god, Nova… I’m so sorry…” Rushie cried as she ran, upset not only that she pissed off her love, but also that I accosted her in such a way. She felt she deserved it, but still. She never had that kind of experience with me before, and even now I still hate myself for that moment. She kept running until she ran into a dead end, with an armoire capping it off. “Hmm… I wonder what this is…”
She opened the armoire, its chamber devoid of any clothes, though a little knot of wood stood out to her as different from the rest. She examined it, noticed it jutted out a little further. “Hmm… This looks… Different from the rest.” She touched it and the back popped outwards, revealing an unfinished corridor leading to some steps. “I guess Korina WAS right about that Graceful mare being loopy, who puts Staircases BEHIND a cabinet anyways?” She snrked, thinking she was clever as she ascended the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the passage.
“Hmm… Weird place, I wonder wh- OH HEY WAIT!” Something caught Rushie’s eye as she BOLTS after the figure she saw. She follows it intently until it takes her to a smallish, octagonal room with one large, stained glass window. The room reeked of death, Rushie gagging at the smell. “Holy shit, who died in here?” She looked around before hearing a voice come from behind her. It terrified her to the core, it was softspoken, refined, and the most disturbing thing? It was familiar to her. She turned around, catching a glimpse of a mare in a fancy dress, light red as it clung to her shape, Rushie getting a look at what looked like leather, but was quickly hidden behind a small paper fan.
“Oh Rushing, you don’t remember me, do you? How sad, I AM the one who brought you here, after all…” The mare said as Rushie stood paralyzed in fear, recognizing the face and voice, yet still unable to place it.
“W-who are y-you… WHO ARE YOU?!” She screamed out as the figure leaned in to look at the figure, a brief flash of her TRUE face showing though. She breathed heavily on Rushie’s face, her breath reeking of mold and leather.
“I, Rushing Wings, am your Grandmother Graceful Wings, and I brought you here to help me build.” She said as she held out a hammer for her granddaughter.
“N-No… You can’t be, my grandmother died before I was born!”
“Of course I’m your grandmother, Rushing. It’s just that your parents lied to you, they didn’t want you knowing about my secret… And this place. They knew if you’d ever have come here, you would be helping me, helping the house. What say you, do you want to help me?” Graceful said towards Rushie, the young mare entranced by the revenant.
“Y-yes, grandmother… I’ll help you.” She said as she took the hammer, her pupils dilating and a glazed over look spreading across her face. She became just another pawn in the house’s game…
I stood there with Sunset, looking around as I suddenly hear some footsteps, “Rushie, is that you? Answer me!” I screamed out, running down the hall as Sunset trailed behind me.
“Rushie, RUSHIE?!” I continued to scream, running towards the sound. “OH THERE YOU ARE!!”
I practically pounced on her, wrapping my arms around her so tightly, squeezing her, “Oh god, Rushie, I’m so sorry for calling you that horrid name, will you forgive me?” My eyes are welling up as I notic something peculiar about my love.
“Rushie…? Are you alright? Did anything happen? What did you see?” I grabbed her shoulders, and since she isn’t responding, I start to shake her. “COME ON RUSHIE, TALK TO ME!!!”
“Nova. This house, this house wants me to keep building. Just like my grandmother, Graceful Wings. If I build, I will live forever. Would you like to join me, Nova?” Her voice was flat, hollow sounding, like the voice of something without a soul.
“The hell’s gotten into you, Rushie? Tell me what you saw!” I screamed at her, shaking her body as she pulled away.
“If you aren’t going to build with me, you are against me. The house won’t let you stop me. You know that.” Rushie replied flatly before raising that hammer towards Sunset Whisper
“W-what are you doing?! STOP!” Sunset screams out as the hammer comes down hard on the side of her head, shattering her skull as Rushie bludgeons her until her face is unrecognizable, an eyeball falling out of a socket as her body lays twitching on the ground.
“THE FUCK, RUSHIE?! THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO!? YOU KILLED HER GODDAMMIT!!!” I screamed at her as I speared into her with my shoulder, knocking her to the ground as I make my escape. I breathe heavily, looking back as my once loving marefriend stalks me slowly, an emotionless grimace plastered on her face as she drags the sledgehammer behind her, the metal scraping against the wood. I run for dear life, before bumping into someone, “Korina? Is that you?”
I rub my eyes as I recover from that bump and subsequent fall, and it soon becomes all too clear, it’s Korina, but it’s not the one she saw before… this one’s an animated husk…
“Oh Nova, why are you running away? I thought you liked me? I know that Eddie sure did. Why are you running when you could help us? Help Rushie?” The corpse asked teasingly, it wants me, the house wants me. It’s been feeding off of us the entire time we were there.
“Oh, this isn’t fucking happening, first Rushie, then you? Shit…” I take off, running down the hall, now being followed by Korina AND Possessed Rushie. The scary thing isn’t that they’re running, they’re walking. Like they KNOW they’re going to win. I eventually come upon the rotunda once again, the fireplace burning brightly. I stop to catch my breath, not seeing the two mares behind me. As I go to take a seat, I feel something dripping on my shoulder. I’m taken aback slightly, not knowing what was dripping, so I look above me… It was Eddie, hanging by his neck from the chandelier, one branch of it impaled through his jaw as he hangs, twitching above me. I’m the only one left, I guess…
Suddenly, a door slams open, Rushie approaching me slowly, teasingly, as if she KNOWS she’s going to win… I look around hurriedly to find something to stop her. I spot the glint of a shovel for the fireplace, used for removing the ashes. I wield it like a bat, holding it up as I’m ready to swing. “Come on Rushie, I know you’re in there… You can stop this whenever you want, I know you can hear me, COME ON!!!”
I scream out for her, but it doesn’t get through, she lifts up the sledge and brings it down hard, missing me by a little. I swing with all my might and bring that shovel across her cheek, a sickening crunch coming from her as her neck is broken. I fall to my knees, crying, as the realization comes over me, realizing I just killed the one person I loved the most… I look over to see Korina kneeling next to me, her hand on my shoulder.
“This could have all been avoided if you would have just helped us…” She said teasingly.
I wiped the tears from my face and looked up at her, staring into those hollow sockets, those HUNGRY sockets.
“Alright, I’ll play your game, Korina, if you’ll give me some time.”
“Alright, Nova, you’ll have all the time in the world.”
I snorted and started to drag Rushie’s corpse along the ground, following Korina to a room. It was our bedroom. I laughed sardonically and placed Rushie on the bed. On the desk this time was a typewriter, a stack of paper sitting next to it. I closed and locked the door behind me as I began to write.
And so here I am, typing up my experience of this goddamn house. It was right, it is going to win in the end. I tried getting out, but it just took the doors away. At least it’s nice enough to let me write this, I mean shit, it’s the least it could do for a soul who’ll spend all of eternity in here, right? Ha, at least I get to leave behind my story for any other fools who stumble upon this cursed place. At least this place Is giving me a way out of my suffering. I found a Revolver in the desk, loaded with exactly one round. Goodbye Rushie, goodbye Equestria. I tried.
Ten years later…
“Come on girls! It’ll be fun!”
“Aww yeah! This was a great idea Applebloom!”
“Yeah Scootaloo! Let’s do this!”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER GHOSTBUSTERS YAY!”
They failed to notice the 4 spirits standing in despair in the attic window, looking at them, sadly.
Author's Note
This was fun to write, I spent a good 6 hours straight writing this. Please, leave feedback and critiques!
