The Haunted Toy Shop

Helpless and fatigued, Trixie continues to lug her carriage through the woods. However, it isn’t the trip that has drained Trixie of her energy and weakened her mental state. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a travelling magician?!” Knick Knack asks.

“Trixie already has . . . many times.”

“I thought you were just trying out your Nightmare Night costume!”

“Nightmare Night isn’t for another month. Why would anypony be wearing a costume ‘this’ early?”

“You never know! Maybe you’re just really into the good old Nightmare Night spirit! I know I am. It’s probably my favorite holiday.”

“Well, isn’t that just wonderful?” Trixie says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes.

“What about you? What’s your favorite holiday?”

“The day you stop talking. That will be a holiday all on its own.”

“You know, I’m somewhat of a travelling performer myself.”

“Of course you are. What are you? A mime. . ? Oh, never mind. That would require you to stay quiet.”

“Close! I’m a clown! I just had my first gig today at a children’s party.”

“. . . That is just too fitting.” The night seems to be never-ending, and to Trixie, this trip is taking its toll on her. Knick Knack’s consistent, belligerent and idiotic conversations are verging on unbearable; but after a while, he suddenly grows quiet. Realizing she’s gained a moment of silence, she takes a sigh a relief to appreciate the absence of Knick Knack’s voice. Trixie has never truly appreciated the subtle sounds of the forest as much as she is now. The chirping crickets, the hooting owls and rustling leaves help put Trixie’s mind at ease. Then, she spots a glimmer of hope just ahead: the shape of a shadowy building. Happily, Trixie picks up her pace as she approaches the mysterious structure. She pulls the carriage up to the building, and reads the sign hanging from the roof that appears to have the words ‘Toy Shop’ written in colorful, blocky letters. However, the sign is so old that its color has faded, and the paint is chipping away to reveal the wood underneath. The condition of the sign matches up with the condition of the rest of the building. Chipping paint, windows caked in dust and cobwebs strung up in every corner and crevasse. “Well, this’ll have to do.”

Trixie makes her way around the carriage, and opens up the door to reveal Knick Knack has fallen asleep on the floor. Seeing her opportunity for some sort of payback for the headache he’s given her, she uses her magic to lift him up and carefully lay him down in the grass. Quietly, she grabs an old, metal pail from her carriage; and finds a puddle of icy cold water to fill it with. With Knick Knack still out cold, Trixie looms over him whilst levitating the bucket over his body. She dumps the entire bucket of water over him, and he springs to life with a yelp as he scrambles to his hooves. “Drowning! Help! Shark!” He yells as he darts like a startled animal searching for a threat. Upon noticing Trixie with the dripping pail, Knick Knack fills with embarrassment.

“Enjoy your rest?” She asks.

“I was, until everything started flooding!” Knick Knack shivers as the icy wind blows across his fur. “W-What did you do that for?”

“Trixie wasn’t about to waste her breath by calling you to wake you up, so she figured this method was a bit more fun.”

“F-Fun for you maybe.”

“Oh, quit complaining. A little water never hurt anypony. Besides, this is where our journey ends.”

“What do you mean?” Knick Knack turns, and his heart sinks to the bottom of his chest as he lays his eyes on the ominous building before him. “Are . . . are you serious? This place looks like it’s been abandoned for years!”

“Perfect! Then that means you can stay here for as long as you please.”

“N-No way! I’m not going in there!”

“Well, that’s too bad.” Knick Knack turns to see Trixie has already strung herself back in her harness, and he rushes over to her.

“Trixie, please, don’t make me have to go in there,” he nervously negotiates. “T-Take me to whatever’s up next. I don’t care what it is, just not this place!”

“What’s the big deal anyway? It’s just an old toy shop.”

“Hear me out.”

“Like Trixie hasn’t been doing enough of that already.”

“I’ve read plenty of horror novels, comics, and seen enough horror movies to know that there’s nothing good waiting for me in there! That place literally spells out: Haunted!”

“What happens in books and movies is all just a fabrication, and there’s absolutely no such thing as hauntings. Not only that, but didn’t you say Nightmare Night was your favorite holiday? Shouldn’t you like horrifying things?”

“I do, but that doesn’t mean I want to in a scary situation like that! I really don’t think you got a good look at the place. Go ahead, just take another look.”

“Trixie has seen it, and you have nothing to worry about.”

“Will you at least just . . . walk in with me? I really don’t want to go in there by myself.”

“Let Trixie think it over. . . No.”

“B-But why?!”

“Because that wasn’t part of our agreement.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know you’d drop me off at the spookiest place in the forest?!”

“Hmm. . .” Trixie taps her chin with her hoof as she thinks to herself. “Well, if you really are that afraid, would you like to hear Trixie’s advice to you?”

“Yes! Please!”

“She suggests that you. . .” Trixie clears her throat. “Grow up.” She then turns away, and Knick Knack helplessly watches as she trots along down the path with her carriage. Realizing that she won’t be turning back around any time soon, Knick Knack trembles as he approaches the dingy shop. Lying in the grass, he notices a wooden sign that appears to have fallen over. He picks it up off the ground to reveal the words: ‘Unicorns Stay Away!’ written in red paint. Confused, he drops the sign back to the ground as his eyes are caught by a green light emanating from the shop. He looks up to see a neon ‘open’ sign has suddenly begun flickering in the window. Taking a breath and nervously adjusting the straps of his backpack, he walks up to the door.

“He honestly wanted Trixie to walk in with him,” Trixie says to herself as she walks down the path. “What does Trixie look like? His mother? That stallion must be out of his mind.” The wind howls, and the constant chirping of crickets ceases, confusing Trixie. “His behavior is that of a child’s. He’d do best to take Trixie’s advice and act his age. Only a child would be afraid of an old, empty building.” Wolves howl in the distance, sending a chill up Trixie’s spine. “I-It’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing as ghosts—” A twig snaps, putting Trixie on high alert. “O-Or monsters—” The bushes rustle and shake, causing Trixie to freeze in place. “I-It’s all nonsense. . . Right?” With the sound of wings flapping, Trixie’s eyes widen as she watches a pitch-black crow descend and perch itself in a nearby tree, and stares at her with its luminescent eyes. It caws at her, and her knees start to become weak. Believing it to be the exact same bird from before, she wonders why it’s following her. Before she could ponder the thought for too long, a blood-curdling scream erupts in the distance, filling Trixie’s body with a rush of adrenaline and fear. She unhooks herself from her harness, and gallops at full-speed back down the path from where she came. Leaving her carriage behind, she can see the abandoned toy shop as her heart races. She tears open the front door to the shop, and rushes inside as she slams the door shut behind her. Pressing her back against the door, she finds a moment to catch her breath and allow her heart some time to settle.

“Trixie! You’re back!” a voice calls out, but as Trixie scans the cob-webbed room, she finds nopony.

“Who said that?! Show yourself?!”

“Up here!” Trixie looks up, and sees Knick Knack clutching onto the chain of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. “. . . So, what’s up? Besides me I guess.”

“How did you get up there?”

“There’s a monster in here, I tell you! I swear I saw something moving, then I heard this weird, creepy music. So, I climbed up here to hide! You need to hide too!”

“Wait, was that you that screamed?”

“Yes! Now, hide! Here, I’ll make some room on the chandelier for ya.”

“No, thank you. How about Trixie finds out what dastardly fiend is lurking in here herself?”

“Trixie, please! Don’t be a hero!” Trixie leaves the door, investigating the room. Line from the front to the back of the store are shelves stocked with tons of different kinds of toys. She can see wooden figurines, soft dolls, playsets and more. The floor tiles are mostly cracked and chipped from age, as well as caked with dust and grime. The ceiling is decorated with hanging models of cardboard clouds and miniature statues of pegasi in midflight, as well as hot-air balloons and wooden marionettes of ponies all with their own unique paint-job and clothing. Trixie spots one stray toy with its back leaning against one of the displays. She approaches it to get a better look, and is perplexed by its pathetic design. It’s a soft doll in the shape of a pony made with a faded cloth. It has no unique features other than haphazard, button eyes and a big smile that stretches out a bit too far to look even remotely normal. Using her magic, she picks it up off the ground. A ring-pull hangs from the doll’s back, and with one long pull of the string, a cheerful jingle plays from within the doll. “There it is! That’s the song I heard!”

“Would you care to come down and take a better look at your ‘monster’?” Trixie mocks.

“What are you talking about?” Knick Knack pops up from behind her.

“What—? How did—?”

“Ah! There it is! That’s what I saw!” He fearfully points at the toy.

“So, you ran and hid from a toy, did you?”

“You don’t understand! That thing was moving all on its own!”

“Sure it was.” Trixie drops the doll to the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. “Doesn’t seem to be much of a monster anymore now, does it?” Trixie’s eyes widen as Knick Knack clutches onto her forelegs.

“I still can’t believe it! You came back for me! What changed your mind?”

“Well,” Trixie pulls her legs free from Knick Knack’s grasp. “Out of the kindness of Trixie’s heart, she decided to check up on you since you seemed so adamant about entering the shop.”

“Great! I’m so glad you’re back!”

“And she will now see her way out.” Trixie turns and approaches the door.

“She said what now?” Knick Knack’s hopeful smile vanishes.

“Since there’s clearly no monsters, ghosts or ghouls, then you should be confident enough to stay here on your own.”

“I. . . Well. . . I guess.” Knick Knack rubs the back of his head. Trixie tries to turn the knob, and appears puzzled as to why it won’t turn. “What’s wrong? Is it locked?”

“It must just be jammed.” Knick Knack continues to watch Trixie struggle with the knob. Frustrated, she gives up on it.

“Does this mean we’re trapped?”

“Not a chance.” Trixie turns her back to the door and kicks it with her hind legs. The entire store rattles, but the door appears unaffected.

“Maybe we should stick together for a while, and try to find another way out.”

“Uh, no. Trixie is leaving right this instant, and a simple door isn’t going to stand in her way!” Trixie’s horn glows, illuminating the shop in a pinkish aura. A beam of light shoot from the tip of her horn towards the door. Unexpectedly, it bounces off of it and ricochets all around the shop. Both Trixie and Knick Knack drop to the floor as the beam bounces off the walls, until it pierces a doll resting atop one of the shelves. They cautiously lift their heads up, and notice the doll’s burnt, smoking midsection left behind by the beam of magic.

“Okay. . . Let’s not try that again.”

“That’s impossible! No surface is strong enough to reflect a spell such as that!” Trixie angrily get back to her hooves.

“Like I said, let’s just stick together and try to find another way out.”

Trixie growls. “Alright! Fine! Let’s get this over with. Surely this place has a back door that—” She pauses, noticing that the doll she dropped to the floor is suddenly missing. “Where did that toy go? Trixie could’ve sworn she left it just over there.”

“You mean it’s gone?!” Knick Knack panics as he hides behind Trixie trembling in fear. “L-Look!” He points to the floor. “W-What are those?” Trixie approaches with Knick Knack not too far behind, and inspects the strange marks on the floor.

“Are these . . . tracks?”

“You see? I told you!”

“It looks like they lead all the way to the back of the store.” As Trixie tries to follow the tiny tracks, she can feel Knick Knack tugging on her cape.

“Please don’t tell me we’re actually following them.”

“Well, that’s too bad, because that is what Trixie’s doing.”

“Well, I think Trixie should ‘not’ do that!”

“If there’s a door out of here back there, you bet Trixie is going to go and find out.”

“Fine, then at least take this.” Knick Knack holds out an old, wooden baseball bat he found within the store.

“For what?”

“For protection.”

“Ha! Against a teeny-tiny toy? You must be joking.” Trixie takes the bat and tosses it across the room as she proceeds to follow the tracks.

“Gonna follow the tracks, and not take a weapon. . . This isn’t going to end well.” He mutters to himself as he catches up with Trixie following closely behind her. “Trixie, I know this is real-life and all, but we shouldn’t try to act like stereotypical, horror victims.”

“What in Equestria are you blabbing on about now?”

“I’m just saying that characters in horror stories always make dumb decisions. Like, oh I don’t know, following mysteries tracks without a weapon to defend themselves with! So, maybe we should take note of that and try to make rational decisions from here on out. Because, you know, I kind of enjoy living.”

“Trixie isn’t even going to waste her time trying to understand what it is you’re talking about. All she knows is: the faster we find that back door, the faster she’ll be free from the likes of you and your nonsense.” The both of them halt upon reaching the end of the tracks. They do in fact find a back door, and drawn in the center of it with red markings is the word: Freedom. From the last letter of the word, the red mark continues down the door. Their eyes follow the red line all the way to the doll resting with its back up against the door and a red crayon sitting beside it.

“And there it is—I’m done. It’s time to turn around.” Ignoring Knick Knack’s advice, Trixie approaches the door. “What are you doing?!”

“It’s clear somepony is trying to pull a prank on us, so Trixie’s going to get to the bottom of it.” Trixie twists the door handle, and a loud clank erupts from within the walls.

“Oh, that’s bad.” From underneath them, the floor gives way, and the two of them scream at the top of their lungs as they plummet downward into the dark abyss below.