The wind howled outside as the six ponies gathered together in Twilight's bedroom, all huddled under her own blanket, ready for a sleepless night.
“Oh my, I haven't done anything like this since I was a filly.” Rarity said, more than ready for the nightly fun.
“Okay, everypony ready?” Twilight asked. Every mare in the circle nodded. “Then I'd like to welcome you all to the first night of Night Mares, ghost telling story club. Rules are simple. No interrupting any pony during her story, and try and scare the living horseshoes off of each other. Who would like to go first?”
All the ponies looked at each other, a smile wide on their faces. This was something that they had been waiting for. Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash had a long standing rivalry of who could tell the scarier story, and tonight would settle it. For Pinkie Pie, this was a party, a spooky, scary, try and keep your teeth from chattering a chatty chat chat party, and any party was good for her, because a party was a party, unless it was a spooky scary try and keep your teeth from chattering chat chat party, in which is was a spooky party, but still a party, party.
Rarity was looking forward to a night without Sweety Belle, who was at her own sleep over with Apple Bloom at Scootaloo's house. She just hoped her little sister would behavior herself like a proper mare while she was away. Fluttershy was just happy to be with her friends, but was nervous about ghost stories. She spooked easily enough, and coming to hear ghost stories was just asked for trouble, but still, she was with her best friends in the whole wide world. How bad could it be?
“I'll go first!” Rainbow Dash announced. “And when I'm done, you all will be sobbing like little fillies.”
Apple Jack rolled her eyes. “Like that'l ever happ'n.”
“Oh yeah? Why don't you go first then?” Dash challenged.
“I reck'n I mite.” The orange mare replied, with a smile. She looked around the circle of excited ponies, and adopted a wicked smile. “Long ago, on a night like quite like this one here, a tragic accident happened.” A silent shiver ran down the backs of the ponies in the circle. This sounded promising.
“Three little fillies had heard tale of the legend of the Mare in the Well. N'ah, it's said that the Mare in the Well was a vengeful ghost of a'h mare who had drowned a hundred years ago, and in the light of the full moon, or so they say, y'ah could see the mare's face in the reflection of the water. But, if'n you shine a light to see her face down yonder, she'll turn into a specter and drag you down to the bottom of the well, an' yah ner be seen again.”
Everyone pulled their blanked tighter around their flanks. Well, almost everyone. Rainbow Dash only yawned, as the Mare in the Well was a popular story told to young fillies and colts to keep them in bed at night.
“An' so the three fillies ventured out, to the well, yah see, and peered in. At first, they saw nothin'. As the full moon rose, directly over the wall, something in the water moved, sendin' a ripple that smoothed out the surface of the water, until it was as smoother than glass on a mirror. Then a face appeared.
"Two of the fillies could see the gaunt face, and empty eye sockets of some drowned pony, but the third saw nothin', so she lit a lamp. By the time the other two noticed, it was too late. The next day, the town ponies found three empty beds. They searched high'n'low, fer three days, but never found the lamp lay'n up turned by the empty well.”
For a moment there was silence, as all the ponies felt fear grip at their little hearts with his icy, claw like hands. Then, they laughed.
“That was a good one Apple Jack.” Pinkie giggled. “I haven't heard that one since I was a little filly.”
“I'm not familiar with that story.” Twilight confessed. “Is it an old one?”
“Oh, psssssh, that old story is as old as the hills.” Rainbow Dash answered.“Every pony in Ponyville knows that one. Are you sure that's the best you can do AJ?”
AJ, however, was smiling. “I'm sure it was a'nuff surgarcube. Is it cold in here, or are y'er wings a shakin'?”
Dash looked back at her trembling wings. “My wings always tremble when I'm about to win a story telling contest.” She replied hastily.
“Ah huh.” By the look on Apple Jack's face, she was not connived.
“I bet my story will be twenty percent scarier than yours.” Dash taunted. “And I bet you'll be the first to cry like a little filly.”
“Big talk from a shaky winged scare'dee cat.” The orange pony smiled.
“You want a scary story?” The pegasus smiled. “You've never heard of the Dwing Bahh before, have you?”
AJ blinked. “Dwing Bahh?” She shook her head, and with the smile that Rainbow was giving her, suddenly felt uneasy about what her friend had cooked up. “What in tar-nations is that?”
“Nothin'.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Just something I made up.”
The orange earth pony gave a nervous laugh. “I knew that.”
Dash, however, was not even started. She leaned back, folding her wings out and her hooves behind her head. “Yeah, the Dwing Bahh is totally made up, absolutely, totally made up. It's the Pegasikk that you have to watch out for.”
Everypony in the circle stared at her. Fluttershy started shaking violently.
“No,” She whimpered. “Y-you d-dont-t mean it's t-t-true?”
“What's a Pegasikk?” Twilight asked. She resisted the urge to turn to the library of books at her back and search for the term, that would ruin the mood and spooky atmosphere of the event.
“I met one before.” Rainbow smiled, cooling closing her eyes. “It happened a few years ago, before any of us met. I was out flying, being totally awesome, you know, my usual self, when I heard something. It was like a high pitched whinny, but there was something strange about it. The sound was really faint. I was curious about who needed help, so I followed the noise. It didn't take me long to find a cave in a not so near by mountain. It looked like a synch to get inside, but I was wrong.
"The closer I flew to the mountain, the more the winds picked up, buffeting me left, and right, almost like the wind alone was trying to knock me out of the air, and into the rocks. I, however, wasn't worried, at all, and using my super cool skills that not even the Wonderbolts could do, I made it down to the cliff right in front of the cave. It was then, as I was catching my breath that I noticed that the mountain side was crawling with bones and empty sculls of pegasi who had crashed into the mountain because of the winds.
“I heard the whinny again, only it was so high pitched, it hurt my ears, and it sounded like ten ponies all being skinned alive at one. I ran into the cave, ready to save whoever was in there, when I say it.” Dash's face drained of color as she continued.
“There was a little fire in the cave, and sitting on the other side of the fire was a pegasas, fur matted, exposing rotted flesh and bone, it's eye black as coal, and teeth that looked like much to sharp to belong to a pony. The high pitched whinny came from a hole on the top it's head, where a horn should have been. It looked at me, as if it could actually see me, and lifted up wings that were nothing but bone that were crumbling into dust.”
“Oh, my!” Fluttershy squeaked. “What did you do?”
Dash opened up her eyes, eyes dilating, as if she could still see it now. “What they hey do you think I did?!?” Her voice cracked with terror. “I turned and flew like buck out of there, probably the fasted I've ever flown in my life. When I got home, I told dad what happened, and he and the other stallions got together and drove the thing out of Equestria.” Rainbow Dash shuddered. “I've never seen anything so creepily evil in my life.”
And apparently every pony in the group never heard anything so creepily evil either. Just then, a high pitched whinny sounded in that very room, and all the girls screamed.
“Baaaahhhaaahaahahahaha!” Dash laughed, rocking back and forth. Fluttershy was giggling too.
“I can't believe you fell for it.” The yellow pegasus snorted. “I was sure you could tell when Rainbow Dash was telling a story.”
The others started laughing to, realizing that the high pitched whiny was Fluttershy's scream, which was high pitched and never very loud.
“So, what do you say?” Dash asked Apple Jack. “You're knees tremblin' or is there a stampede near by?”
AJ looked down to her legs, which were shaking violently. “Uh, heheh,” She covered herself with a blanket. “I'll give you this round.” She smiled, embarrassed, “But don't think this is over.”
“Course not.” Rainbow winked. “Best eight out of fifteen?”
“You bet'cha!”
Twilight smiled at her friends. “Okay girls, it's my turn.” And with that, her horn glowed purple. A second latter, the lights went out. “Have you ever heard of the Three Tortured Souls?”
She paused a moment, letting the hypothetical question sink in, since she had just made up the story the night before.
“They were three friends, who lived in the Evergreen Forest, not to far away from Ponyville. In fact, they were on good terms with the ponies here, since they would trade needed herbs and plants that can only be found in the forest for food and other necessities. Every day, they'd search for new things in the forest, and one day they found a stone near the old Castle of the Two Sisters.
"It was a strange stone, being blood red with black rusty splotches on it. All in all, it was a disgusting looking rock, but for some reason, the three friends wanted it. At first it was finder's keepers, but that left two angry ponies to plot against their friend. One night, the finder of the weird stone knew, just knew, that his friends were going to try and kill him for the stone, so while they were sleeping, he snuck up on them, and cut their throats.”
The other mares in the group gasped in shock and horror, all except R.D. “Saw that one coming.” She whispered to Pinkie, who in turn shut her up by shoving a cupcake into the pegasi's mouth.
“That pony made up a lie of why his friends suddenly died, and the ponies in Ponyville were sad, but never questioned further. Why would they, they had no reason to doubt their friend in the woods. But, after a week, the stallion started hearing voices coming from the rock. At first, he thought he was just over tired from his day's work of forging. Without his friends, he had to work three times harder than he was use to.
"After a few days of these bodiless voices, he couldn't sleep, keeping the same knife that kill his friends in hoof until the day broke. After three days, he couldn't take it any more, finally hearing what the voices were saying too him. A week latter, the ponies in Ponyville sent a search party, to see if he was okay.
"What horror they beheld when they opened the door to the hut and saw a dead pony, grinning madly, throat cut by his own knife, red stone in hand, and an eerier chuckle coming form the dead ponies lips.”
In a flash of purple, the room lights flickered and they all saw the dead, rotting pony, face grinning, throat slit, red splotched stone in hand, laughing in the corner. It was too much for Fluttershy, and with a squeal of utter terror, she tore from her spot, and galloped from the room, with Apple Jack and Rarity in hot pursuit.
Rainbow Dash fainted on the spot and Pinkie gasped, and froze. Twilight fell back laughing. In a flash, the grizzled ghost pony vanished, revealing it to be non other than Spike holding a pebble in his claws with a smile on his face.
“I think you might have gone too far with that one Twi.” Spike commented, notice how half the ponies were missing, and the other half were in no condition to function.
“Yeah, you're right.” Twilight giggled. “But it was worth it.” And with that, she opened a little book that she'd kept near her, going down the list of things. “Scare the living horseshoes off you're friends by telling a ghost story, check.”