Doctor Whooves: Night of the ShadowFright

As Celestia's sun set over the horizon and Luna's moon began its nightly journey across the sky, in the rural town of Ponyville, at the end of an ancient cobblestone path leading to the decrepit front steps of a dilapidated old house on a hill, a familiar pair of troublemakers were engaged in an animated conversation:

"You go in," Snips said plainly.

"I'm not goin' in," Snails shook his head. "You go in."

"What's a matter? Ya buk-buk-bu-KAH!?"

"I'm not a frog!"

"Frogs don't cluck!"

"How would you know?"

"'Cause I'm the brains of this outfit."

"Oh yeah? Sez who?"

"Sez your mom!"

"What are you two geniuses arguing about?"

Snips and Snails paused in what was, for the two of them at least, a deep intellectual discussion, to turn towards the approaching Diamond Tiara accompanied as usual by Silver Spoon.

"Are you two dweebs trying to set the record for eating the most paint chips?" Scoffed the younger filly scornfully.

"No," snorted Snips, before murmuring, "We did that last week."

"I won," Snails added proudly. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes while Silver Spoon made a face.

"Right now," continued Snips. "We're playing Dare."

"Shouldn't that be Truth or Dare?" Spoon inquired.

"We already knows everything 'bout each other," explained Snails. "So's the Truth bit gets kinda boring."

"So," Snips interjected excitedly. 'We skipped right to the Dares, which are loads more fun!"

"Facinating," muttered Tiara.

Spoon adjusted her glasses. "So you two were arguing about a stupid dare?"

"Don't encourage them!" gritted the peach filly.

"Well," said Snips. "I dared Snails t' go into Ravensmane House."

"Then I dared Snips to come with me," Snails said.

"Then I double-dared him to go alone."

"Then I triple-dog-dared him t' come with."

"Then...we didn't know any bigger dares than triple-dog, so we just sort of went back and forth until you two showed up."

"Then you asked 'Whut're you two geniuses arguin' about?'" Snails grinned bashfully.  "Shucks, nopony's ever called me a genius b'fore. Right nice of you t' say so Diamond Tiara."

Tiara snorted with disgust and even Snips rolled his eyes.

Silver Spoon looked at the old Ravensmane House. For as long as she could remember it had stood empty, frowning down from its perch atop a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville, rotting like an open wound. It made everypony uncomfortable, but no steps were taken to tear it down or even renovate it. Instead, everypony just steered clear of it. It was just one of those things that everypony had decided, by some silent mutual consensus, that no one would ever speak of.  And so Ravensmane crouched upon its perch, casting its shadow over Ponyville like a thundercloud.

As Silver Spoon looked on she had the chilling sensation that there was somepony inside looking back.

Was that movement in the darkened window?

A fleeting figure whose flight disturbed the tattered curtains?

A shining eye peering through the boarded up shutters?

The grey filly shuddered.

Diamond Tiara gave one of her famous scoffs, "Why would you two idiots dare each other to go inside that smelly old place?"

"Because of..."Snips paused for dramatic effect, before elbowing Snails, prompting him to levitate a shining flashlight benath their chins, "...the Shadowfright!"

Silver Spoon quivered behind Diamond Tiara, who for her part was unaffected by the two older unicorn foals' showmanship, and simply tossed her head indignantly.

"Please! The Shadowfright's just a stupid nursery rhyme parents made up to keep their kids in line. Not that it ever worked on me of course"

"No really!" insisted Snails. "Berry Pinch and Tootsie Flute saw it last week. They've had the jitters sumthin' awful ever since."

"Pfft, they probably just got into Berry's mom's 'cider'. I'm telling you, only babies and dorks like you actually believe in the Shadowfright."

Snips passed Snails a sly look, which after a few moments of blank staring was returned by the gawky unicorn. He didn't know what Snips was up to, but he was certain it would be funny.

"Okay Little Miss Fancy-Britches," the smaller unicorn challenged. "Why don't you go into the House?"

Diamond Tiara blanched a little before she drew herself back up to her characteristic haughtiness.

"Why should I?"

"Winner of Dare gets two bits," Snails cajoled.

"Two measly bits? Ha! Do you two even know who my daddy is? I wipe my nose with two bits. Come Silver Spoon, let's leave these paupers to their childish games." Tiara turned on her hoof and began trotting away, a relieved Silver Spoon in tow.

"Alright," shrugged Snips. "If you're too chicken..."

The younger filly stopped short.  True, Snips and Snails were a couple of idiots, but they were still older foals. What's worse, they were older foals with big mouths. Their word carried weight in the Ponyville Schoolyard. If they declared her a chicken she'd be a laughing stock.

And that dratted Applebloom would never let me live it down... she thought nastily.

"Alright," Tiara declared, tratting resolutely back up the cobblestone path that led to the front porch of Ravensmane. "We'll do it!"

"You will?" asked a stunned Snails at the same time Silver Spoon squeaked in horror, "We will!?"

"Yes," repeated Tiara, giving her friend a very pointed look. "We will. But only to prove that there's no such thing as a Shadowfright."

"Alright then!" Snips declared, spitting into his hoof and extending it towards the two fillies who, after a moment's hesitation, each gingerly shook in turn.

"Fine," huffed Tiara, wiping her hoof on the ground. "We'll meet back here tomorrow after school."

"Ah," Snips smiled wickedly. "But the Shadowfright only comes out...at night."

"Yeah," Snails chimed in eagerly. "An' it's almost nighttime now."

The two fillies looked up and, sure enough, the last light of the setting sun was sinking beyond the Everfree Forest and the moon was waxing in the eastern sky.

"Why do you think we brought the flashlights?"

Tiara growled. "Whatever, the sooner we get this over with, the better." She promptly snatched a flashlight and marched up the front steps to the old house's entrance. She paused and glanced over her shoulder. Silver Spoon was sitting on her haunches quivering like a leaf.

"Get moving Spoon!" demanded Tiara, as she pushed open the heavy double doors with a creak. "I haven't got all night."

With a barely suppressed whimper, Silver Spoon followed her friend into the gloom within the foyer, huddling close to what little light comfort the illumination of Tiara's flashlight provided.

The gleam of the flashlight fell on peeling wallpaper, ancient furniture draped in cobwebs, moldy and faded paintings of long departed ponies that appeared to gaze down imperiously at the intruders.

"What a dump," Tiara scoffed. "This'll be a snap. We'll show those two dweebs that the upper crust knows no fear...Brrr! Did it suddenly get cold here or is it just me?"

Spoon didn't answer. Her heart raced and each breath hung in the air like a fine mist and she shuddered. Out of the corner of her eye the shadows seemed to creep closer.  The cobwebs appeared to form long reaching arms and grasping fingers. The ponies in the portraits seemed follow her with their lifeless painted eyes.

There was a dull thud behind them and with twin gasps Tiara and Spoon whirled around to find that Snips and Snails had followed them inside and slammed the doors behind them.

"Eh, my bad," smirked Snails.

"Didn't mean ta scare ya," Snips grinned, nonchalantly switching on his flashlight.

The fillies gave the unicorns a dirty look before continuing their exploration. Spoon tried not to look up at the paintings. There was something...unnerving about them. Wrong even. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but every time her gaze was unwillingly drawn to a portrait she could swear they were watching her.

Then she heard it, a long, low groan.

With an exasperated sigh, Spoon whirled on the two unicorns. "Would you guys cut it out already? She demanded. "You're being totally immature!"

"B-buh-but..."Snips stammered unintelligibly while Snails finished with a tremulous, "We duh-didn't do n-nuh-nuthin'."

Another groan sounded. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Snips whipped the flashlight all about, the dilapidated chandelier above caught the gleam dully. The billowing ghostly white curtains flanking the boarded up windows which filtered in moon shadows contributed to the eeriness of Ravensmane. Finally, the light settled upon the stairs, a decrepit moldering structure that wouldn't support their weight, let alone that of a storybook monster.

It's just a story like Tiara said, Spoon assured herself. There's nothing in this stupid old house but dust and bats and spiders and...just don't think about it! Just don't think about icky bats or creepy spiders or...

Then came yet another maddening creak.

"T-T-Tiara," stammered Silver Spoon. "I've had enough, I wanna go home."

There came no answer.

"T-T-Tiara?"

The bespectacled filly spun around to find an empty hallway. She looked back and forth but it appeared completely deserted. She shot an accusing look at Snips and Snails but they appeared as baffled and disconcerted as she felt. Her eyes fell upon a door, left ajar just a crack.

"Tiara?" she ventured.

There came no reply.

She took a few tentative steps towards the door, the unicorns following nervously behind.

"T-T-Tiara?" Spoon whispered.

Closer and closer she came. She could reach out and touch the tarnished knob now but still she hesitated. Her mind raced with unnumbered nightmarish possibilities of what could lay within, each one worse than the last. Biting her lower lip she reached for the handle and pushed the door open to reveal...a dingy closet, containing nothing but a few ragged clothes on wire hangers and empty hat boxes.  The trio gave startled yelps as a colony of moths, disturbed by the sudden brightness of Snail's flashlight, swarmed out from collars and sleeves and fluttered off into the shadows.

The three foals puffed a collective sigh; Snails even gave a nervous chuckle as Silver Spoon shut the door, only to be confronted by the Shadowfright.

Spoon fell backwards with a shriek as the pale, billowing apparition loomed over her, bathing everything in its sickly pale glow. Snips and Snails scrambled away, dropping their flashlight and babbling incoherently, they disappeared into the darkness. The specter laughed as Silver Spoon continued screaming. Then Diamond Tiara removed the sheet with a wicked flashlight illumined grin and fell into giggling fits that lasted long after Silver Spoon regained her composure and glared at her friend.

"That wasn't funny Tiara!" Spoon pouted.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" mocked Tiara. "And those two losers? Priceless! 'Help me! Help me! The Shadowfright's got me! Mommy!'"

"I'm serious Tiara," insisted Spoon. "I don't like it here! It's dank and smelly and creepy and I wanna go home!"

"Fine you big baby," Tiara snorted. "Let's go find Snips and Snails and collect our winnings>"

"I thought you didn't care about the two bits."

"I don't. I just want to rub it in their stupid faces."

Spoon practically pressed herself against her friend, trying to stay as close to the light as possible. The surrounding darkness seemed more palpable, more solid somehow. Worse, those paintings appeared to be moving now, their occupants straining against the canvas, trying to escape their frames, trying to reach for her.  But the grey filly just squeezed her eyes shut against the disturbing visions and let Tiara lead the way to the sitting room.

"Snails," she called irritably. "Snips. Get over yourselves, it was just a prank."

There was no answer. Spoon cracked open an eye. The only occupants in the room appeared to be themselves, the cloth-covered couch and easy chairs, a coffee table conquered long ago by dust and cobwebs and yet another painting. She didn't want to but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't make it out too well in the gloom, but she peered at the painting, and the more she stared the more it looked like a terrified Snips and Snails calling for help.

"Tiara," she whispered. "That painting..."

"I know," snorted Tiara. "Tacky isn't it?"

"But it looks just like..."

"Oh don't tell me you're buying into this Shadowfright nonsense too..."

The spoiled heiress trailed off when she noticed Silver Spoon staring at something behind her with an expression of stark terror.

"Oh please," Tiara rolled her eyes derisively. "Like I'm going to fall for the old there's-something-behind-you trick."

Spoon took a few backward steps away, never moving her eyes from the thing behind Tiara.

Curiosity overcoming her suspicions, Tiara slowly turned to face a writhing mass of shadows that filled the room, swallowing the meager glow of the her flashlight, draining it until it flickered and went dead. Its glowing purple eyes gleaming in the gloom, it fixed its gaze upon the horrified fillies. Diamond Tiara didn't even have time to scream before she was engulfed in tendrils of blackness and vanished.

The last thing Silver Spoon remembered, she was running for the entrance as fast as her legs could carry her. She lunged through the double doors, leaped over the porch steps and dashed down the cobblestone path towards the blessed lights of Ponyville.

Even after she cleared Ravensmane's property line she didn't stop running until she reached her house. Her parents demanded to know where she had been so long after dark but their interrogations died on their lips when their daughter broke down sobbing. They had the servants fix her some warm milk, wrapped her in a warm blanket, and had the nanny put her to bed where she fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming of a terrible all-consuming shadow with piercing purple orbs pursuing her through a grey haze, all the while the portraits of Ravensmane's lost intruders, most prominently Snips, Snails, and Diamond Tiara, recited the old rhyme in a mocking sing-song voice:

Shadowfright

Come at night

Gonna eat you in one bite.

Tucked in tight

Turn out the light

Hide away from Shadowfright.