A Haunting Dare

Chapter 4

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle peer over the jagged wood as the dust clears revealing Applebloom completely blanked in the white sheet she dragged down with her.

“Applebloom!” Scootaloo shouts.

“Applebloom are you alright?!” Sweetie Belle shouts.

“Uhh . . . Y-Yeah Ah’m . . . Ah’m alright.”

“Applebloom we’ll meet you back in the bedroom!”

“Alrighty then.” Applebloom says dazedly.

Applebloom stands desperately trying to keep her balance while she ignores the big white sheet still covering her entire body.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have finally pulled out the mannequin, but at the same time they knocked over several boxes causing their contents to scatter all along the floor. Silver Spoon begins setting up the sheet while Diamond Tiara browses the other boxes for anything useful. She catches a sound outside the room, the sound of hoof-steps and slight moaning. As she stares through the doorway something covered in a big white sheet passes by. Diamond Tiara groans and turns her attention to Silver Spoon.

“Silver Spoon I thought we were going to keep the mannequin here until we found a good spot for it?”

“. . . What are you talking about? It’s still here.”

Diamond Tiara notices that the mannequin is indeed still in the room, and her eyes widen turning back to the door wondering to herself about what she really did see.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Silver Spoon asks.

“I . . . I thought I saw something walk across the hall.”

“Diamond Tiara that’s not funny.”

“I’m being serious! Come on let’s go take a look. I swear if it’s those losers trying to scare us they’ve got another thing coming.”

Applebloom fumbles her way down a set of stairs and feels her way into the kitchen using the wall as a guide. Still trying to keep her balance she ends up running into the refrigerator causing the door to creep open and a bottle of years-old tomato juice to spill out onto the floor. The vibration makes the cleaver resting on the countertop fall as well and into the puddle of juice. Applebloom searches around for the door until she eventually gets her hooves over a knob, while already opening it up and with one peak out from under the sheet she realizes that it isn’t the same door and leaves it a tad open. The door next to it was the door she and her friends had gone into. She walks in, shuts the door, and yanks off the white sheet while rubbing her forehead. Climbing up the stairs her friends meet her as soon as she reaches the top.

“Applebloom! There you are!” Says Scootaloo.

“Is your head okay?” Asks Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, Ah’ll be fine.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon peak out through the doorway looking both left and right. To the right is a dead end, but they notice something laying on the floor. The family photo Applebloom was holding fell and she left it without knowing. Diamond Tiara picks it up and they both stare at the family members.

“Who are these ponies?” Silver Spoon asks.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe that stallion was the murderer that used to live in this house; and maybe he killed those three little fillies!”

“Silver Spoon relax, there is no such thing. I made that story up so that maybe I could scare those losers. I mean really, there is no such thing as ghosts.”

A loud crash then erupts from the kitchen startling the two bullies. The both of them quietly walk down the stairs peering into the kitchen. At first they don’t see anything, but the further they move in they finally notice the cleaver soaking in a puddle of dark red fluid. A shiver is sent up both of their spines, and their breath gets caught in their chests.

“W-W-What is that?!” Says Silver Spoon frightfully.

“I-I don’t know . . .”

“I thought you said you made that story up!”

“I did! I—”

Diamond Tiara halts in the middle of her statement noticing the door that has been left slightly open. After the both of them cautiously move forward Diamond Tiara pulls the door all the way open but pulls herself away out of fear. There is nothing but a stairway leading down into a dark and dank cellar.

“Are you losers down there?!” She calls, but it only echoes back to her with no other answer. “That’s it, I’m going down there.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“I’m telling you it’s just them trying to scare us! There is nothing to be afraid of. There is no such thing as ghosts, ghouls, goblins-nothing!”

On that note she begins to walk down the stairway while Silver Spoon, reluctantly, follows her down as well. Plunging deeper into the dark with only the light from the doorway behind them they glance left and right trying to desperately focus on anything.

“Are you losers down here! Hello?!” Diamond Tiara shouts impatiently.

A creaking sound erupts from behind them, and with a frightened turn of their heads they see that the door is slowly shutting itself. With the light fading they watch in helplessness. The door stops and silences for a split second of relief, but in a violent slam the door shuts closed leaving the two bullies in the darkness with the sound of tumblers locking into place. In a surge of panic they trot up the stairs bumping into each other and stumbling over each step. They try to turn the knob, but it’s as if something is holding it from the outside. Their breathing quickens, and beyond the door they catch the sounds of young jovial voices giggling with delight.

“Open the door! See? I told you it was them!” Says Diamond Tiara angrily, but no matter how much they demand and how much they bang the door stays shut.

“. . . W-What do we do now?” Asks Silver Spoon.

“If they won’t let us out, then we’ll just find our own way out.”

“But I can’t see!”

“Just follow my voice, there has to be another exit somewhere around here.”

Silver Spoon trembles nervously with each step she takes, and Diamond Tiara is filled, not with fear, but fury. The both of them blindly make their way down the stairs trying to feel around the walls. Silver Spoon then feels something touch her shoulder, and she can’t help but jump flailing her forelegs.

“Ah! What was that?!” She shouts.

“Calm down it was just me. . . Wait, do you hear something?” Diamond Tiara asks.
They freeze their bodies holding their ears out to the darkness. Somewhere in this basement a low humming slithers through the air. A mare’s voice whispering a peaceful tune, but it sends the two bullies’ hearts into dread. Giggling begins to erupt from beneath the shadows and the two fillies’ only instinct is to back away and try for the door one last time. Speechless they take a few steps back, but bump into a shelf against a wall. A commotion of cans and containers fall, and the two of them feel something warm coat the bottom of their hooves.

“. . . Diamond . . . what is this?” Silver Spoon whispers.

“I . . . I don’t know.”

“Is it . . . ?”

Something else falls and clangs onto the basement floor cutting off Silver Spoon’s thought replacing it with the urge to run. The both of them gallop and bump into each other trying to find the stairs. Screaming and tripping over the steps they bang repeatedly on the door begging for help, but on the other side the giggling just continues.

Their screams are so loud that they travel up into the second floor where the Cutie Mark Crusaders freeze in fear.

“W-What is that?” Asks Applebloom.

“Didn’t Diamond Tiara say you could hear screams from this house?” Sweetie Belle asks frightfully.

“Girls it’s just a story, there’s no—”

The screams grow louder causing Scootaloo to hold her mouth and tremble as well as her friends.

“Ah think it’s comin’ from downstairs.” Says Applebloom.

“Th-Then let’s go check it out. . .”

Scootaloo leads the way cautiously down the stairs back into the kitchen with the sounds of screaming and violent banging. They stand behind the door as it pulses with the distressed voices behind it. Scootaloo reaches out to the knob, and with the slightest turn the door flies open and the two bullies ram into them. The crusaders are pushed back slamming against a cupboard, but from the shelf up above a bag of flour tips over raining the white powder upon them. They all regain their composure and Diamond Tiara begins to scold the three crusaders.

“What was that for?! You—”

Diamond Tiara stops once she finds that before her stand three white fillies dressed in strange clothing. She and Silver Spoon remember them from the old family photo and automatically assume the worst.

“Ghosts!” They both shout in unison.

They bolt out of the kitchen and out of the house leaving the crusaders puzzled.

“Ghosts?” Asks Applebloom.

“Why would they . . . ? Hey! Look!” Sweetie Belle finds the family photo from earlier one the floor near the doorway.

“Oh, Ah must’ve dropped it on accident.”

“Then . . . They must’ve thought that ‘we’ were the ghosts!” Scootaloo says before they all start giggling together.

“Hey, do you think they’re still out there?” Asks Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t know, come on let’s go see!”

The three of them trot through the main hall and outside where Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are shivering near the outside of the lawn.

“Ah! Stay away!” Diamond Tiara shouts.

“Wait! It’s just us!” Scootaloo shouts with a chuckle in her voice.

The three of them start to wipe away the flour from their faces revealing their coats. Both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s jaws drop as the crusaders trot towards them.

“Looks like ‘we’ won the dare!

“Wha- ju- bu- Guh! Oh Fine! You beat us.” Diamond Tiara says rolling her eyes.

“We didn’t scare you two did we?” Scootaloo asks with a smirk.

“I knew you losers would try to pull something like this!”

“Oh and you weren’t?”

“Us? Of course not! . . . Oh alright yes, we did have something planned. Until something passed by our doorway covered in a white sheet!”

“Oh! That was me. Ah fell outta tha attic, and Ah was so dizzy Ah didn’t even bother to pull off that darn sheet.” Says Applebloom.

“What about that knife on the kitchen floor?” Silver Spoon asks.

“Ah must’ve bumped inta somethin’ an’ it fell. Ah think Ah hit tha refrigerator.”

“What about those dresses?”

“We found these in the bedroom and decided to try them on. Aren’t they pretty?” Sweetie Belle asks.

“They are!” Silver Spoon agrees, but she silences once Diamond Tiara gives her an angry glare.

“By the way, was it one of you that tried to scare us in the bathroom?” Scootaloo asks.

“‘I’ didn’t go into any bathroom.” Says Diamond Tiara.

“That was me, I heard a sound and looked around. I thought I heard something behind the curtains . . . was that you?” Says Silver Spoon.

“Yeah, we got kinda scared.” Scootaloo chuckles.

“Ah guess instead of the house scaring us we ended up scaring each other. . . What is that all over yer hooves?” Applebloom asks.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon check their hooves and find that they are coated in a black fluid.

“Is that . . . oil?”

“Ew! Disgusting!” They shout trying to wipe their hooves along the grass.

“Well this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you three locking us in the basement!” Diamond Tiara says furiously.

“What? We weren’t even there when you got locked in. We heard screaming and came down to see what it was. You’re just trying to ignore that you were scared and couldn’t handle it.” Scootaloo defends.

“Whatever, just because you beat us this once doesn’t mean you’ll beat us in anything else. Come on Silver Spoon.”

Oddly Silver Spoon seems a bit reluctant to follow, as if she actually wants to stay with the crusaders. But she chooses to follow after another glare by Diamond Tiara.

“. . . That is a little bit weird don’t you think? How could they have gotten locked in the basement?” Sweetie Belle asks.

“Maybe the wind shut the door behind them.” Scootaloo puts forward.

“You know, even after Diamond Tiara’s story an’ how creepy tha house looks, Ah think it was pretty fun.” Says Applebloom.

“It was! I wonder what else is in that house.” Says Sweetie Belle.

“You know girls; I wouldn’t mind coming back here sometime.” Says Scootaloo.

Feeling proud of their accomplishment and realizing that there never really was anything to fear about the house they turn with their heads held high back to it for one last look. From the outside it appears ominous, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be scary.

“. . . Uh . . . do you girls see somethin’ up there in tha window?” Asks Applebloom.

“Where?” Asks Sweetie Belle.

“Right there. . .”

Applebloom then guides Sweetie Belle’s attention to the top right window. As their curiosity drags them closer they find themselves staring mindlessly at what stands in the window: three young fillies, a mare, and a stallion in fancy attire joyfully waving at them with smiles on their faces. Their eyes are locked on this stunningly familiar looking group of ponies as they awkwardly wave back at them. The three fillies wink simultaneously at them before fading away into the shadows behind them.

“. . . Did you girls see that?” Asks Sweetie Belle with her eyes still glued onto the window.

“Uh . . . Ah think so.” Says Applebloom.

“Maybe it was just our imagination. Yeah that’s it, maybe we’re just tired.” Scootaloo proposes.

“We should go home an’ git some sleep.”

“Yeah . . . good idea.”

As they turn and begin their trail back home they can’t help but glance back at the house. They can feel that what they saw wasn’t their imagination, but they continue to hammer in their minds that it was. It is a question they still will be asking themselves: do ghosts really exist? Or are they simply a figment of our own thoughts? Even if they are real they can’t all be bad, right?