A Haunting Dare

Chapter 3

The crusaders place their hooves over each other’s mouths to keep one another quiet. This unknown pony messes around with some of the objects in the bathroom as they listen to its breathing echo within the room. They can’t quite see what is exactly behind the curtain, but they can make out the outline of a dark pony-shaped figure standing before the curtain. Eventually the mysterious pony leaves the room and they all take a breath out of relief.

“. . . What was that?” Sweetie Belle whispers.

“Ah don’ know, but Ah think it ain’t friendly.” Says Applebloom fearfully.

“Girls relax; it was probably just Diamond Tiara trying to scare us. Who knows what they could be up to?” Says Scootaloo.

“Yer probably right. C’mon let’s git outta this room.”

Silver Spoon arrives, still trembling, back into the storage room where Diamond Tiara is now messing around with one of the mannequins and a white sheet.

“Well? What was it?” Diamond Tiara asks.

“. . . Oh, uh I-I don’t know. I didn’t see anything.”

“Hmm, that’s strange. Come and help me with this.”

“So, what’s the plan?”

“I’ve got an idea with this mannequin. We dress it up and set it somewhere to hopefully scare the Cutie Mark Losers out of the house.”

“That’s genious!”

“Aren’t I?”

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara proceed with an attempt to pull out a dusty old mannequin from behind stacks of boxes causing a few things to scurry out from behind. Some black spiders and even a little mouse bolt across the room as the two bullies cry in disgust.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders leave the dank bathroom and find another room next door. Inside is a set of three beds along the back wall with their sheets hanging off of the mattresses and a wooden bureau on each side. In the center of the room is a faded forest green rug outlined in beige and decorated with images of flowers around the center. Along the wall is a tall wooden wardrobe with fancy dark metal handles illuminated by a flash of lighting from the window on the opposite wall. Sweetie Belle opens the two wardrobe doors and finds many white dresses which are in surprisingly good condition as they have been sheltered from any dust.

“Woah! Look at these!” Says Sweetie Belle astonishingly.

“Wow, these dresses look ancient. They must’ve belonged to whoever lived here before.” Says Scootaloo while inspecting the wardrobe.

“Say! These dresses look about our size! Why don’t we try ‘em on?!” Applebloom suggests.

Just like that the crusaders begin to dig in the wardrobe pulling out a few good dresses for them to go and try on. They slip their little hooves through the sleeves and fix the skirts around their waists. They twirl around as their dresses sway admiring how wonderful they look. Scootaloo then notices something hanging from the ceiling. A handle attached to a chain that connects to a square doorway on the ceiling.

“Hey, what’s that?” She asks.

“Ah don’ know. Some kinda switch?” Says Applebloom.

“Let’s pull it!”

“I don’t know Scootaloo. . .” Says Sweetie Belle worriedly.

“Aw come on; who knows what else we’ll find in this house?”

Scootaloo uses her little wings to flutter up into the air and clench her teeth around the handle yanking it down allowing the door to fly open and a ladder to extend down to the floor. A thick cloud of dust puffs from the doorway causing them to start coughing. They try to swipe away the dust by waving their hooves near their faces. As soon as the dust all clears away they stare up into the newly opened attic, not so much afraid, but curious.

“. . . Woah.” They all mutter in unison.

“. . . Well come on let’s go!” Scootaloo urges excitedly.

Scootaloo rushes up the ladder as her friends follow closely behind. Out of every room they’ve been in the attic seems to be the most filled with dust as it immediately begins to cling to the bottom of their hooves with their first steps. However, this room is the most lit due to the ray of Moonlight shining directly through one little window. The light lays upon the assortment of boxes and webs that stretch from wall to wall. The crusaders begin their excavation through all the boxes lifting up their lids and digging through all the junk that lies inside. Applebloom finds a bunch of old child toys such as dolls and letter blocks. Along with all that she also finds a little bonnet which she fashions over her head covering up her big red bow. Sweetie Belle finds an old music box with a crank extending out from one of its sides. She uses her magic to lift open the lid revealing a little figure of a mare in a pink dress standing in some sort of ballet pose. Under the lid is a mirror, and once Applebloom and Scootaloo notice the music box they all gather around staring at their reflections. Sweetie Belle uses her magic to turn the crank until it cannot be turned any further. Upon letting it go a sweet chiming melody plays as the little figurine twirls along the rotating base of the box.

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara stop their attempts to yank the mannequin out of the clutter due to the sound of the melody as they now glance everywhere around the room unsure of where the sound is coming from.

“What’s that sound?” Silver Spoon asks.

“. . . Is that . . . music?” Diamond Tiara asks wonderingly.

As the music continues Silver Spoon grows even more nervous while Diamond Tiara appears more confused than anything. The music begins to slow down until finally stopping.

“Well that was strange.” Says Diamond Tiara.

“A little c-creepy too.”

“Oh don’t tell me ‘you’ are starting to get scared.”

“Uh what? Me? N-No I’m not scared! Don’t be ridiculous.”

They then turn their attention back to the mannequin they’ve been trying to dig out of the pile of junk, but Silver Spoon continues to glance at the doorway out of a lingering fear.

In the attic Scootaloo searches a box and finds only a big white sheet, but as she picks it up out of the box it feels heavier than a normal sheet of cloth. She sets it down onto the floor and starts to unravel it revealing an old brown book. She opens the cover and finds that the sheets are filled with black and white photos of other ponies in several family pictures.

“Girls come and look at this!” Scootaloo calls.

“What is it?” Applebloom asks.

“It’s an old family album!” Says Sweetie Belle surprised.

Scootaloo continues to turn the pages looking at all the different photos of the family. Every picture is filled with such happiness. There are photos of a supposed father laughing with one of his daughters, or in a wedding picture with his wife. Through the pictures it would seem that he had three daughters. There are so many pictures of the three daughters playing together or gathered around the dinner table as a family.

“They all look so . . . happy.” Says Scootaloo.

“Yeah, there’s no way Diamond Tiara’s story could be true.” Says Applebloom.

“. . . Hey, these fillies look kind of like us.” Says Sweetie Belle.

“Where?”

“Right there.” Sweetie Belle says pointing to one particular photo of what looks like the whole family.

In the picture are the three daughters smiling and standing next to one another. The similarities are abundant by the styles of their manes, but since the photo is in black in white it’s difficult to tell what color their coats just really may be. However, the two daughters that look similar to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are both earth ponies. Behind them is the father in a black suit and hat, dark colored coat and a smile on his face. Next to him is his wife in a white blouse and swirly mane leaning her head against the father’s shoulder.

“Ah don’ think I see the resemblance.” Says Applebloom.

“Take a closer look! They definitely look like us!” Says Sweetie Belle.

Applebloom pulls the picture out of its sleeve and tries to look closer, but to her it’s just too dark to tell. She moves over to the Moonlight so that it can appear more visible.

“Well what’ya know! They really do!”

Suddenly the floor beneath her begins to creak, and before she can react it breaks apart causing her to fall down. She tries to grab onto the white sheet to save herself, but she just ends up falling down with it shrouding her entire body. Sootaloo and Sweetie Belle trot over to the hole calling out Applebloom’s name hoping for a response.