Clubhouse of Horror VI

Chapters

The Nightmare Revival
Chapter 1- Hunger
Chapter 2 - The Lake of the Damned
Chapter 3 - The Murder Mask

The Nightmare Revival

The sun has set in the town of Ponyville and in its place the moon has risen to take its place up high in the night sky. On any other days the streets of Ponyville would’ve been empty, except for maybe a few ponies trotting about. However, tonight is different, for tonight it is Nightmare Night.

That’s right, Nightmare Night have come once again to the small town of Ponyville. It is an annual festival whose origins relates to the legendary black alicorn herself, named Nightmare Moon. The very same mare who planned to plunge Equestria into eternal night. The same mare who according to myth, will devour ponies unless fed with sugary sweets.

Nowadays most ponies don’t even remember the story behind Nightmare Night and it just becomes a night of fun for foals to dress up and get free candy.

Speaking of foals, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders are back once again to share their scary stories like they did in the previous Nightmare Nights. However, much time has changed for our three little crusaders. Before, the three girls would literally try everything to get their cutie marks. But, it wasn’t until after helping another pony out with her problem is when they finally received their cutie marks.

Indeed that was a very joyous day when the crusaders earned their cutie marks by helping out their once former bully and now turned friend, Diamond Tiara.

Now most would assume that this was the end of their story. That once they got their cutie marks there was nothing else for them. Maybe if it was one of those fairy tales that would have been the case. However, this was no fairy tale, because if you describe pony's life like a story, then this was just the end of a chapter with many more to come.

Since all three crusaders got there cutie marks by helping ponies, the three girls decided to make it their profession. Just like how the three would work together to get their cutie marks, the three fillies now help other ponies with finding their cutie marks or even discover what their cutie marks really means.

The crusaders were so dedicated to their cause; the three girls even organized a camp in which they can help even many more ponies with finding their cutie marks. It is also the very same camp where our story will be taking place.

The cutie mark campsite is filled with festivities tonight with Nightmare Night decorations and foals wearing uniquely different costumes. Everypony is welcome to join in on their horror story sessions. From the newest campers to the old ones or just even somepony that wants to join in the fun and listen to some spooky tales.

The event is taking place on the stage with hundreds of ponies in the audience. Everypony were sitting down and talking amongst themselves as they wait patiently for the show to start.

Suddenly the lights on the stage turn on. The once noisy audience swiftly fell silent and the crowd of ponies all drew their attention towards the three fillies standing on the stage. The three ponies are founders of this camp: Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Despite how young those three look, the crusaders have accomplished many great things since they started this cause. The girls have aided numerous young foals in finding their cutie marks and even helped those who hadn’t discover what their true talents were.

Just like the rest of the ponies in the audience, the three fillies are also wearing their own costumes for Nightmare Night.

Applebloom, the yellow earth pony, is dress as an outlaw. She is wearing a black fedora hat and a red bandana covering her mouth. Sweetie Belle, the white unicorn, is dress as a changeling. She is wearing a green spandex suit and green changeling mask. On her back there is piece of cardboard that is resemble a changeling’s carapace. Then there’s Scootaloo, the orange pegasus who is currently dress up in an astronaut which looks very similar to the one her idol, Rainbow Dash wore last Nightmare Night.

“Hello everypony!” Applebloom said, greeting the audience. “We three like to thank y’all for coming out and joining us at our camp’s first spooky story session.”

“Now most of you probably already know this by now, that this isn’t exactly the first time we did one of these things before. In fact we’ve been doing this for the last couple of Nightmare Nights.” Sweetie Belle stated. This earns her a few nods from ponies who there in the previous Nightmare Night events. “But, this will be the first time we’ll be doing this here at our Cutie Mark Day Camp.”

“So basically just like the last couple of Nightmare Nights, just sit back, relax and get ready to be spooked by some of our scary stories!” Scootaloo said, saying the last part of her sentence in a spooky way.

Once the three were done, both Applebloom and Scootaloo trot off to the sides of the stage, leaving the audience to focus all their attention on Sweetie Belle. The stage lights now fix their gaze on the little unicorn as Sweetie Belle clears her voice before starting her tale.

“My story takes place in the bustling city of Manehattan, where a killer is roaming loose. For the past couple of months the police are on the hunt for the Manehattan Mauler, a cold-blooded killer that has claimed the lives of many poor ponies. Tracking this monster down, Detective Private Eye is the closest to ever to apprehend this criminal. However an encounter with the killer did something to the detective. He has now developed a strong appetite for food, especially in the meat variety. Now not only does the detective have to hunt down the killer, but now he will have to deal with his knew found…

HUNGER

Chapter 1- Hunger

It was a hot summer day in Manehattan as Detective Private Eye trots inside an apartment complex. The yellow stallion wipe the sweat the off his head as he waits for the elevator to come down. Looking down, Private Eye took notice of the large amount of sweat he has on his hoof. Outside he said nothing, but inside in his mind he grumbles about how too damn hot it was today.

The door to the elevator opens up and the yellow stallion trots right in. He presses the number five button and the little room he was in started going up. Arriving on the fifth floor, Private Eye looked around. He was inform to go to room 509, but instead of looking for the room number, all the Detective had to do was look to see where the cops were standing and he instantly knew where to go.

After showing the police guard his badge and identification he enter the room and is met with an awful stench. Private Eye covers his nose in order to protect himself from such a terrible smell.

He soon quickly discovers the source of the terrible odor as it lies right in front of him, a rotting mutilated corpse of a pony.

“Smell bad doesn’t it?” A police mare comments as she approach the Detective.

There were three other police in the room. Two he didn’t know and third one he knows quite well.

“It sure does Sgt. Frosted. It really reminds me of whenever you cook something up.” Private jokingly responded.

The white unicorn mare smirks at her friend’s remark. The two ponies knew and befriended each other during their academy days. Their relationship never went anywhere past being friends. In fact the stallion fell for the mare’s sister, Glazed instead. He and Glazed dated for a while now and they really became a loving couple.

Focusing their attention back on their job, both Sgt. Frosted and Detective Private Eye turn to face the rotting corpse of an earth pony.

“Who is this guy?” Private questioned.

“His name is Springer, Twenty-four years old, works at a nearby supermarket and lives by himself.” Frosted provided the information. “Poor guy died for some time now and was only recently discovered after neighbors complained about the smell coming from this room.”

The Detective didn’t need to ask what the cause of death was as it was clearly explained right before him. Springer was torn apart and he meant that in a literal sense. Upon closer inspection the stallion can see that the pieces of the stallion were ripped off by force, not by blade. Whoever this killer was, they must be incredibly strong to rip this guy apart.

Private kept on inspecting the body for a bit until he made a gruesome discovery. The body was missing some of his organs. It wasn’t the fact that this guy’s organs were missing, but rather he knows the one killer that would do this kind of thing.

“Frosted, don’t tell me this is the work of him is it?” He questioned.

“The Manehattan Mauler, yes it is.” The mare answered.

The Manehattan Mauler is an infamous serial killer that has taken the life of many ponies. His victims were all the same, mutilated and torn apart. However, the most sickening thing this killer does is with their innards. The bastard actually devours the pony’s organs.

So not only were they dealing with a dangerous serial killer, but he’s also a cannibal as well.

“Dammit, this is the third one this month.” Private said. “This bastard is getting gutsier.”

“And yet we’re no closer to catching this guy.” Frosted stated. “No matter how hard we try, this pony manages to elude us.”

“Well there’s no pointing in beating ourselves over it, let’s just do our jobs and hopefully find something here that can lead us to this killer.”

However, before anypony could start the investigation the police pony from outside came through the door.

“Sergeant, there’s been another murder.” He informs the mare.

“Great, another one.” Frosted said, sounding annoyed. “Who’s the victim?”

The stallion was hesitant at first, but spoke anyways. “It’s your sister, Sergeant. She’s the victim.”

Half an hour later both Private Eye and Frosted arrive at an alleyway where the crime has taken place. The mare aggressively pushes through the crowd of onlookers with the stallion following behind her. Once they were through, Frosted eyes widen upon see the tarp with somepony underneath it, knowing full well who it was.

In her current emotional state, Frosted wanted nothing more than to rush over there and hold her dead sister. However, her logical side stopped her from doing such a thing and instead did the one thing she can do. Break down into tears.

Private Eye trot behind the crying unicorn and she in turn hugged him. The Detective knew Frosted needed this and comfort the grieving mare. However, deep down he too was grieving as he look down at the tarp covered body of the mare he loved.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

“No Private Eye, how can I be alright with my sister dead?” Frosted angrily answered. “But, I can still do my job. It’s time for you to do the same as well.”

Private nodded his head and return to investigating the crime scene. He asks one of the officers to remove the tarp so that he can examine the body. The pony did so and upon removing the tarp the Detective felt a surge of uneasiness.

There she was, the mare he loves, Glazed.

It really disturbs the stallion to see her like this. Glazed was a very beautiful unicorn mare, her smooth light brown coat matches with her pure white mane which gave her a very elegant look. But, now her beauty is forever tarnished by the horrific mutilation of her body.

As Private Eye examine the body his mind started to wander off to the past and remembering the history the two shared. Both Glazed and Frosted are from a long line of bakers and while Glazed took up the family tradition, Frosted instead pursued into the career of law enforcement.

It was through his friendship with the white unicorn mare that led to him meeting the mare of his dream.

But, now that dream has turns into a nightmare, all because of the Manehattan Mauler.

If the Detective ever did find this pony, he would make sure that pony would pay very dearly.

Sometime later, Detective Private Eye is trotting home as the sun started to set. The yellow stallion sighs in disappointment over the investigation. There was absolutely nothing at the scene that could’ve helped them find the killer.

When he finally reach his home, the Detective was about to unlock his front door when he notice something strange. His next door neighbor left his pocket watch outside his door. Believing his neighbor accidently dropped it, Private pick the item up and intend to return it.

“Hello, Skipper it’s me, your neighbor.” Private said as he knocks on his neighbor’s door. “You dropped your pocket watch outside.” The stallion knocks on his door again and this time the door slowly creep open.

Standing in the doorway, Private can clearly see the inside of Skipper’s house and saw that there was a struggle. Chairs were either turned over or outright destroyed, the walls had both holes or cracks and there was some blood smeared across the walls and floors as well.

Before entering, Private made sure to send out a message to the police. He carefully trots inside the house and looked around to see if is alright. When he enters into Skipper’s bedroom he is silently horrified to see his mutilated body.

However, upon a closer look he can tell that the body was leaking blood, indicating that the kill was still fresh. This meant that killer could still be here. But, before the Detective could do anything a plastic bag is suddenly place over his head and is tightly wrap around his face, suffocating him.

Gasping for air, Private Eye pushes backward, slamming his assailant to the wall. The Manehattan Mauler did not relent and continue to suffocate the Detective.

Private Eye slam the pony against the wall again, this time a vase fell down and shatter into many pieces. He then quickly picks up one of the broken pieces and thrust it upwards, stabbing the Mauler.

The stallion let out a painful scream and immediately let go of Private Eye, thus allowing the Detective to breath.

Turning himself around, Private face the Mauler which reveals himself to be a big grey earth stallion with black mane and red eyes. Well one red eye, since there happens to be a piece of broken vase stabbed in his right eye.

The grey stallion attempted to run away, but Private Eye stops him by wrapping his arm around the stallion’s head, putting him in a headlock.

The Detective tough he finally got the Manehattan Mauler, but then he felt a sudden sharp pain on his arm. Turns out the grey stallion has sunk his teeth into his arm.

The pain was immeasurable and it kept getting worse as it felt like the grey stallion was planning to bite a chunk of his arm off.

Private decide to let go of the stallion, but not before smashing his face against the floor. However, in return the grey stallion kicked backwards with both his legs, sending the Detective, crashing against the wall.

Private Eye watch the Manehattan Mauler escaping just before he passed out from the pain.

“So that’s pretty much what happened.” Private explained his story to the group of police ponies. Apparently he was taken to the hospital after the police found him. There they treated his wounds and waited for him to wake up.

Upon awakening the cops began questioning the Detective, everything about what he was doing there and what the killer looked like. After getting the information they needed the cops immediately put a lookout for anypony matching the description of the Manehattan Mauler.

This just left two ponies in the hospital room, Private and Frosted.

“You’re an idiot you know that.” The mare scolds him. “What were you thinking going in there alone?”

“Well I was making sure my neighbor wasn’t in trouble Frosted.” Private answered.

“You could’ve been killed!” She raises her voice.

“But, I didn’t. I made out alive.” He stated.

“Yeah, barely.” She points towards his wounds.

“It’s just a bite mark, Frosted. Nothing to get worried about.”

“You don’t get it Private, It’s not the fact that you didn’t get killed, it’s that you could’ve been killed.” The mare said, her voice changing from anger to sadness. “I already lost someone close to me, I don’t need another.”

Seeing her sad like, Private Eye reprimanded himself for making his best friend worry about him. He then assures her that he’ll be more careful in the future and promises to catch the killer and bring him to justice. The two then ended up hugging it out in the end.

Sometime later, Frosted escorted Private back his home. After saying their goodbyes, Private felt hungry and decides to look for something to eat in his kitchen. It didn’t take him long because he found a box of cookies in his cupboard.

However, before opening the box, Private realizes where this box of cookies came from. It was a present from Glazed. Realizing that this was her last gift, the stallion was hesitant on whether he should eat them or not.

After some deliberation, he decides to eat it anyways because he knew she made these cookies so that they can be enjoyed.

Opening the box, Private took a cookie and eats it. But, upon finishing the cookie, the stallion felt unsatisfied. He tried another one and like before, nothing. For whatever reasons, the cookies tasted bland. Also despite just eating, his hunger has not been sated.

By this point Private Eye is too tired to deal with this and just heads off to bed.

Later that night the Detective could not sleep. The stallion just lies there on his bed, still awake. He constantly changes his position, but no avail.

Sitting straight up, Private sighs in frustration and heads off to his bathroom. Splashing his face with cold water he was about to get back to bed when he heard some squeaking sounds. Turning his head around he spots a little mouse.

With lightning fast reflexes, Private snatches the mice up with his hoof. He was going to release the little rodent outside but for some reasons he kept staring at the mouse as it struggles to break free from his grip. Then without thinking, he puts the mouse inside his mouth.

Once inside his teeth starts to move and crushes the mouse to death and he chews on its corpse. Normally anypony would’ve been disgusted by eating meat, but for Private Eye it was the most satisfying thing he has ever eaten. Every bite, every chew on the mouse sends waves of pleasure to his mind.

However, all good things come to an end and when he was done with the mouse, that pleasuring feeling was gone as well. Private Eye lost control over himself as he wanted more meat, so then he left his house and disappeared into the night.

It was early in the morning in Manehattan, the sun is rising and ponies are already starting to wake up. For some ponies however, they are already up and awake. Frosted just recently bought two cups of coffee and is trotting over to Private Eye’s house. The mare wanted to make sure he was doing alright after yesterday incident.

When Frosted reach the door, she realizes it was not locked. Cautiously, the mare enters the house and found no sign of her friend. Fearing the worst, she went out to look for him.

The sun was setting over the city and inside an abandon warehouse. Private Eye is currently feasting on a big, fat rodent. The stallion’s tooth tore the flesh off the rat and grinds it in his mouth.

During the night of his hunger, the Detective went on a devouring rampage. He trotted the dark streets of Manehattan, hunting down and consuming any unfortunate little animal that comes across his path. Fortunately, for him he didn’t encounter anypony during his rampage.

It was only after filling himself on meat did his hunger finally subsided. This was also when he quickly realizes what he has done and let the horror of it sink in.

Now he keeps his hunger in check by killing and feasting on smaller animals like rats, pigeons, cats and dogs. He hated doing this, but it was either this or eating ponies. Looking down at his arm, the one with the bite mark, the Detective scowls at the memory it brings up.

It was no coincident, that the cause of Private Eye’s new taste for flesh came from the Manehattan Mauler after the stallion bit him. Now he plans to track this guy down and hopefully he will be able to get rid of this affliction.

A red pegasus stallion was flying back to his house. Crimson Typhoon’s boss had him work overtime, making him working late into the night . The pegasus was really tired and just wants to crawl into his bed and fall asleep.

However, unbeknownst to the pegasus, somepony was trailing behind him. This pony followed the tired pegasus all the way to his apartment, where he proceeds to unlock the door.

As soon as the door was opened, Crimson took one step in before being tackled into his home. The sudden attack caught the pegasus by surprise and before he could do anything he was instantly knocked out by a powerful punch to the head.

The Manehattan Mauler grins sinisterly, licking his lips in anticipation to eat this pony. So after locking the door and dragging the unconscious stallion further inside, he was about to dive his teeth into him but was then interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

The Mauler stops what he was doing and turns his attention towards the door.

“Hey you bum, this is your landlord!” An angry voice yelled from the other side. “Where’s last month’s rent money you promised me!”

The Mauler didn’t respond, hoping this landlord would just go away.

“I know you’re in there! So don’t bother trying to hide!” The landlord continues to knock loudly on the door. “I ain’t going nowhere until I get my money!”

Annoyed, the Mauler had planned for only one meal tonight. Guest now he’ll be having two. The grey stallion trots to the door and took off the locks. He was going to drag this pony in and use his teeth to tear his neck open.

However, when the Mauler opens the door slightly, the pony on the other side buck the door open, smashing it into the Mauler’s face.

Reeling back from the pain he opens his eyes and saw a familiar face. It was Detective Private Eye, who was only pretending to be the pegasus’s landlord. He then charge right in, pushing the Mauler towards a wall and pinning him.

“Tell me how to cure myself!” Private demanded.

“Cure what?” Mauler questioned.

“The hunger!” Private snap back. “This hunger is driving me crazy, I literally cannot think without eating some meat.” Private’s eyes then glares at him. “You did this me, so you must know how to reserve it!”

“Heh heh, so you too got the hunger as well?” The Mauler chuckled. “Sorry pal, there is nothing I can do. Once you have it, you’ll never have a normal life again.”

Private Eye then grabs Mauler’s head and bash against the wall. “Don’t lie to me!” He yelled out. “There is no way in hell I want to be like this for the rest of my life!”

The Detective was about to punch, but the Mauler thrust his head forward, headbutting the yellow stallion in the face. Both of Mauler’s arms two shot out and pressed his hooves around his neck, strangling him.

“Believe me buddy; I tried to find a way to fix myself. Eventually though I grew to enjoy pony meat. You should’ve tried some, they taste divine.” The Mauler tightens his grip around his neck. “Too bad you won’t live long enough to have some.”

Private Eye’s neck felt like they were literally being crushed. The Mauler was indeed an incredibly strong pony. He tries to pull the stallion’s hooves off, but he got a firm grip.

Feeling like his life was going to end soon, the Detective was force to take a more drastic action. As much as is disgusted him, he had no other choice. The yellow stallion opens his mouth wide and bite the Mauler’s left hoof, tearing a big chunk off.

Surprise by this sudden savagery, the Mauler’s grip loosens upon losing a chunk of his hoof, allowing the Detective to break free.

Private spit the chunk of meat out of his mouth, not wanting to taste pony flesh, despite how good it taste. He then threw a punch at the other pony and struck him right across his face. He threw another punch at him, but the Mauler dodge it. However, Private didn’t end there and headbutt the grey stallion.

The Mauler had enough of this and proceeds to grab the Detective and bite into his shoulder.

Private Eye screams in pain as the Mauler tear a part of his shoulder off. Looking ahead, he sees the stallion attempting to swallow the chunk down. Acting fast, he thrust his head forward and headbutted him the neck. This causes the Mauler to choke on his meal.

Private press the attack, pinning him down as he repeatedly wailed on his face with both arms while he was grasping for air. This went on for a while until the Detective’s hooves were bloodied. Looking down, he sees the Mauler dead before him with his face smashed in.

Sighing in relief, Private Eye sat down on the ground, tired. “You’ve been avenged Glazed.” He said to himself, resting his back against the wall.

Somewhere outside Sergeant Frosted is heading towards the same apartment. According to her sources, her friend was spotted in this area and using her investigator skills she follow his trail into this apartment room.

Opening the door, she trots in and is horrified at what she is seeing. It was her best friend, crouching over another pony’s body and eating his innards.

“Private Eye?” She asked.

This caught the Detective attention and quickly turns around, revealing his blood stained lips to the police mare. Standing straight up, the yellow stallion lunges himself forward.

In response, Sgt Frosted charge up her horn and fired.

An hour later there was a bunch of police and hospital carts park outside the apartment building. Sgt. Frosted is sitting in one of the hospital carts, getting her wounds tended. However, her physical pain was less painful to the mental pain affecting her.

She was force to put down her best friend, a decision she regretted doing. Her friends came at her like a wild animal and almost killed her. Fortunately for her, she only sustains a minor injury…

A bite mark.

THE END

Chapter 2 - The Lake of the Damned

After Sweetie Belle was done telling her scary story, all the ponies in the audience are excited. Sure they were scared at first, but that is the whole point of Nightmare Night. Having yourself a good time by being scared.

So with Sweetie Belle setting the mood, it is now Scootaloo’s turn with her own terrifying tale.

“My tale begins on one summer day when two brothers went to Lake Glistening for their vacation. Unbeknownst to the brothers, the lake is actually cursed. According to the legends, the lake caused the mysterious disappearance of many ponies over the years. Will the brothers make it out alive or will they fall victim to…

The Lake of the Damned

It was summer time for the ponies of the Equestria. That meant no school for Cloud Blaster and time off work for Aerial Twist. The two ponies are pegasus brothers, with Cloud being the younger brother and Aerial being the older one.

According to the weatherpony, the first week of the summer is going to be extremely hot. So to combat against such a heat, the two brothers are heading west to a secluded place called Lake Glistening.

Now the reason why this lake was so secluded is because it is hidden away in a forest. Since the lake is not known by the general public that meant the brothers have the whole lake to themselves.

So then after packing up all their essential supplies, they flew west into the huge forest area. They kept on flying until they reach their destination, a large beautiful lake hidden within the thick foliage.

Once they set their things down, the brothers then ran towards the lake, both cannon balling in. Cloud Blaster and Aerial Twist made two big splashes as they felt the cold water enveloping their bodies.

The two brothers then proceeds to play together. They splash water at each other, passing a beach ball to one another and even dive down to see underwater.

The next game they play was suggested by the eldest one, Aerial Twist. They were going to race back to the side of the lake where they left their stuff. The one to get their first will not only be the winner, but also earn themselves bragging rights.

Cloud was against the idea, knowing full well Aerial was a much better swimmer then him. However, before he could object the older brother immediately started swimming. Cloud knew there was no way he could out swim his brother, but his competitive nature and pride won’t let that stop him and he soon began swimming as hard and fast as he can.

Despite his best efforts, Aerial was already far ahead of him. Cloud Blaster didn’t give up though and kept on pushing himself to catch up with his brother.

However, as the little brother swam, he suddenly starts feeling heavy. The little colt soon finds himself unable to stay afloat as his body kept sinking into the water.

Cloud struggle to keep his head above the water, but eventually he was completely submerge into the lake. Looking up he see the surface of lake slowly distancing itself away from him as he continue to sink down deeper and deeper into the cold dark abyss. Cloud’s consciousness starts to fade, leading to him blacking out.

It was the dead night at Lake Glistening and all is silent. The darkness covers the whole lake with the only light source coming from the moon. The image of the moon is perfectly captured in the lake’s black surface. The reflection looked so real you would’ve confused it with the real one.

Suddenly the image of the moon in the lake was interrupted when a lone boat floated in and ruined the perfect reflection. Onboard the small boat there was a silhouette of a single pony. The pony then pick something up from the boat and dump into the lake, watching it sink down before leaving the scene.

The vision then ends when the young colt regains consciousness. Cloud Blaster cough out some water before opening his eyes to see the worried look of his brother. Apparently Aerial Twist saw him drowning, so he swam back and rescued him.

After Aerial made sure his brother was alright, he asks him if he wants to call it a day and head back home. The little colt told his brother he was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

Despite Cloud’s reassurance, the little colt was reluctant to head back into the lake. Understandable, he almost drowned, but that was only half the reason. The other half is that strange vision he had. He didn’t know why, but he finds that vision quite eerie and unsettling.

After some procrastinating, Cloud finally step into the lake and began swimming towards his brother.

However, as soon as he swam further into the lake he felt the same feeling from before. His body was getting heavier as he struggles to stay afloat.

Soon enough his head dive down into the water and the little colt witness the most horrifying thing he has ever seen. There were hundreds of bloated pony corpses, all swimming upwards to catch the little colt.

Before he knew it two of those undead ponies’ hooves grab onto him. They then proceed to pull the little colt down deeper into the lake. But, before they could drag Cloud Blaster down any further, the colt felt two strong hooves from behind that pulled him upwards.

Aerial Twist pulled his little brother out from the lake who then proceeds to gasp for air. When he asked what happened, Cloud frantically yelled at him to take him away from the lake and that there was something in the lake.

Heeding his brother’s warning, the older brother flew over to the spot where they stuff are and carefully put his brother down on the ground.

Once the little colt calmed down, he told Aerial everything. About the undead ponies down in the lake and the strange vision he had when he passed out.

Now in most stories, you would assume Aerial would’ve scoff off the idea of monsters and ghost, believing that his little brother was just imagining things. However, when you live in a world where myths and legends are becoming real, why would zombies be unbelievable?

Aerial Twist then took his brother back home and away from this place.

Almost three days have passed since that incident and things were back to normal. Cloud Blaster was back outside playing with his friends as if the thing a few days ago never happened. Meanwhile, Aerial Twist was concern about the lake and went to his local library to look it up.

The results from his research told him of the lake’s infamous history. Apparently it was responsible for over a dozen of disappearances throughout the years. Anyone that dares swims in the lake will suddenly be pulled down and will never be seen again. Because of the lake’s dangerous nature, ponies were warned not to go to Lake Glistening or else suffer the same fate of those before.

That was all the information he got from his intensive research at the library. All that effort he put into and all it did was told him what he already knows, that the lake was dangerous.

Tired, Aerial decided to head back home to relax and try again tomorrow. When he did get home, the older brother heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Believing his brother is taking a bath, he was about to head to his room when he notices water flooding through the door.

The stallion quickly knocked on the door and call out to his little brother, asking him what is going on in there. When he receives no response, Aerial started bashing against the locked bathroom door.

Once the door finally gives, he burst right in and is horrified at sight before him, his little brother drowning in the bath tub.

10 Minutes Ago

Cloud Blaster enters his home and sat on the couch in the living room. The little colt was recently done playing with his friends and when he was exhausted, he decided to call it a day and head back home.

He continues to lay there on the couch until he realizes how much he stinks. So fighting against his tired body, the little colt got up and went straight for the bathroom.

Cloud filled the tub with hot water before jumping in and sighing in relief. The heat from the waters helped relax the little colt and made his stress go away.

He still thinks about the lake incident a few days ago, thankfully he’s back home and hanging with his friends help alleviate those memories. Now he just wants a nice and relaxing bath.

As the colt lays there with his back against the wall of the tub, he suddenly hears the sound of water pouring from the faucet. Confused, Cloud reach out to turn the water off, only find that the knobs were already closed.

Then all of a sudden more waters started pouring out from the faucet, overfilling the bathtub. Thinking this was some kind of plumbing problem, Cloud was about get out, but something pulled him down.

Realizing that this was a similar situation from before, Cloud couldn’t do anything as he felt himself being pulled down into the bathtub and blackout.

It was the same vision he had when he first drowned. A dark night at the totally blacken lake with the bright moon hanging overhead, providing the only source of light to the scene. Then there’s the same black silhouette of a pony riding a boat.

This time however, Cloud can hear the sound of crying coming from the boat. Recognizing that sound of a crying baby, he was confused as why there was a baby onboard.

The vision continue to play the same way as before, but when the pony pick up the thing from its boat, Cloud can hear it crying. Quickly realizing what was going on, the little colt watch in horror as the pony silence the baby’s cries but dumping it into the lake.

However, unlike last time where the vision ended there, he started to follow the sinking baby as it descends down deeper in the darkness below.

As Cloud continues to watch, he started to sense strong feelings coming from of the drowning foal. He sensed its sadness, its betrayal, its rejection and its anger. It cried out for somepony to rescue it, but its cries for help went unanswered.

Cloud awoke from his vision with his older brother standing over him. When he saw that his little brother was up, Aerial asks what happened in there.

Once the little colt regains his composure, he shares everything with his brother. From what happened in the bathroom to the new vision he had while drowning.

It was hours later into the day with the sky orange and the sun almost starting to set. Both Cloud Blaster and Aerial Twist were flying through air, heading straight back to the cursed place, Lake Glistening.

The reason why the two brothers are going back to that accursed lake is because of the discovery they made back home. After Cloud told his brother about the pony dumping the foal into the lake, Aerial remembered reading something about it while researching.

Apparently the first reported pony to ever disappear from the lake is a foal. The little colt was barely a year old before his sudden disappearance. Interesting enough his own mother soon followed afterward, becoming the second victim.

When Cloud informs his brother about the emotions the foal went through while drowning, it remind Aerial of an old folktale he heard when he was just a colt. The story was about a pony that died while being sad. The pony was so sad in fact that his spirit lingers on even after death. Over time the spirit eventually became a revenant that now lashes out against the living.

Hearing this story they theorize that the foal became this revenant after feeling abandon and betrayed by his own mother, who became his first victim.

According to the story, there was only one way to rid this evil ghost and it is by finding the foal’s skull and breaking it.

The two brothers landed on ground near Lake Glistening, both wearing their breathing mask and wielding hammers for weapons. Both brothers were determined to complete their task at hoof, otherwise Cloud will never be left alone.

At first Aerial tried to talk his brother out of this, but his little brother was insistent that he comes along. This was his problem and he didn’t want his brother risking his life because of it.

Seeing the determination in his eyes, he agreed to let him come along. The two then trotted towards the lake and dive right in.

When the brothers went deeper into the waters, it started becoming darker as they swam further away from the sun. Even with the flashlights they brought along it was still going to be hard to find a skull in this big lake.

The only thing that might help them is the knowledge of where the foal was dumped. Remembering the vision, the mother sail her boat in the center of the lake and dumped her baby right there.

As the brothers kept on searching, they felt an eerie sensation like someone was watching them, as if the revenant knew what the two were up to.

Suddenly several bloated pony corpses emerge from the darkness and attacked the brothers.

Aerial fought them off while Cloud continues looking for the skull. Every time, one of those zombies tried to go after Cloud, Aerial swim in and block their path.

Cloud watches as his older brother valiantly fought off the hordes of zombie ponies. However, he knew that his brother was tiring himself out with every second he fights and he needs to find that skull fast.

While searching though the ground, a rotted hoof pop out and attempted to grab the colt. Cloud reacted by swimming away, but was knocked away by the hoof, losing his hammer in the process.

He landed on the ground where his head struck something. Looking up, he find himself staring at a little pony skull. Realizing his luck in finding the foal’s skull, he was about to reach for his hammer only to discover that he lost it.

Looking back at this brother, Aerial was now being swarmed by the horde of zombies as every one of them converges on the stallion.

Seeing the danger his brother was in, Cloud looked around for something hard to break the skull. He found neither his hammer nor even a rock to smash this skull. As the little colt panic he then realizes that his own breathing mask was pretty hard.

Cloud wasted no time and started bashing the skull with his mask, knowing full well of the danger he was doing. He kept it up as he sees both his visor and skull were starting to crack. Finally with one last bash, the skull broke and his visor shattered, letting the water into his mask.

The last thing he saw before passing out was the horde of zombies harmlessly floating away in the water.

It was night time when Cloud regain consciousness and the first thing he notice was that he was back at the house, laying on the couch. Nearby his brother was sleeping on a recliner chair.

When Cloud woke him up, Aerial was happy to see his brother was alright. The little brother returns the feeling and asks what happened.

Aerial told him everything, about how he found the skull and ended the curse at Lake Glistening forever.

Happy to hear the news, the Cloud went back to sleep on the couch, glad that this whole ordeal was over.

THE END

Chapter 3 - The Murder Mask

The mood in the camp is filled with fear and excitement. The audience enjoyed the previous two stories from the Crusaders and now await for the final story for the night.

Applebloom took to the stage as everypony quieted down to listen in to the little yellow filly’s tale.

“My story is about a mare named, Passion Heart. A cold blooded killer who is quite infamous for her expressionless reaction whenever she kills someone, earning herself that kind of reputation.”

“However, Passion Heart wasn’t always like this. No, before the mare became the killer that she is today, she used to be a meek pony that wouldn’t hurt anyone. That was until she was given a mask that allowed her to kill without remorse, but comes with a terrible cost.”

“So sit back and listen to my tale of Passion Heart’s transformation from meek to killer, all due to …”

THE MURDER MASK

It was a dark and rainy night when Passion Heart left her house. The pink earth mare brought a rain coat with her as she made her way to the seedy part of the town. Never being in this area before, it took Passion almost hours before she found the location, a dilapidated house.

Instead of going towards the house, Passion took the time to ready herself for what she was about to do. This was no easy task, since it requires her to do something she never though she would do in her life, murdering somepony.

Now the story behind how she found herself in this situation can be summarize like so. Passion Heart has always been a meek pony. From childhood to all the way to adulthood, the mare didn’t have easy life.

Because of her personality, the mare always get short end of the stick in life. She lives in a lousy house, works at a terrible job and having a lousy life.

Recently Passion lost her job and in desperation, turns to the local crime boss for money. He of course gave her the money, but now she is in their debt.

A month later he came to her and gave her a job to do. She is to go to this pony’s house and end their life.

To say the mare was horrified would’ve been an understatement. She freak over the thought of murdering another pony. But, she was more afraid of what the crime boss would do to her if she refused to do the job.

Before the mare left though, she was met by an elderly unicorn stallion.

The old stallion knew of the mare’s plight and wishes to help. So he offers her something that can help her on the job. He gave her a plastic monster mask.

Passion was confused as to why this cheap looking Nightmare Night Mask would help her. Instead of giving her a direct answer, the old stallion explains that once she puts on the mask, everything would smooth sailing from there.

So now back to the present, Passion took out the mask and look at it. At first glance it looked like a monster, but upon a closer look, it looks more like a deformed pony face.

Remembering what that old stallion said, the mare put on the mask. Nothing, Passion felt nothing at all when she the put the mask on. Believing that the old stallion was just screwing with her, the mare felt depressed.

Nevertheless, she had a job to do and she headed straight for the house. Since it was dilapidated it was quite easy for her break in.

Once inside she looks around to see any sign of her target. She found signs of somepony living in here, but no sign of the stallion. Then out of nowhere she was suddenly struck with a bat, causing her fall down.

While on the ground, she heard her attack demanding who she was. Passion attempted to stand up, but her attacker struck her with his bat again.

The mare is then flip over on her back. From her new position, she got a good look at her target. He is scruffy, dirty looking brown stallion. His white hair was long and dirty and he had that look of a pony who you didn’t want to make eye contact with.

The stallion ask who she was, threatening to beat her with his bat is she doesn’t answer.

Passion Heart though about answering, but she was too terrified to respond so she instead tried to crawl away.

The stallion reacts by smashing the window above her, shattering the glass so the pieces fall down onto her. The glass shards didn’t her, but the loud sounds of shattering glass froze her in place. She is then lifted up by the stallion that then proceeds to smash her against the wall.

The stallion then gave out a list of ponies she didn’t know, demanding to know if any of these ponies have sent her to kill him.

Terrified at this point, Passion fought back by punching him the neck. This result proves quite well as the stallion reel back from the pain. The mare was amaze by herself; she honestly didn’t think she was that strong.

However, upon looking back she sees that the stallion was not in pain from her punch, but rather from the piece of glass shard she stabbed him with. Passion Heart was surprise by this, she didn’t remember picking up a glass shard when he lifted her up.

While the stallion was in pain, he still wasn’t out and charge right at her.

Then almost by instinct, Passion quickly picks up the fallen bat and smashes him right in his face. She swears she heard the sounds of bones breaking as her bat connected with his face.

Oh, but the mare was done yet. She still had a job to do and so she raises the bat up and starting beating on him repeatedly.

Passion didn’t know how she was doing this for, but she eventually stopped once her arms got tired. Looking down, the stallion was already dead. She wasn’t sure if he died during the beating or even before she started, the important thing is that he was dead.

Now normally most ponies would’ve been horrified or at least shocked at the aspect of murdering somepony. But, for Passion Heart, the mare felt a surge of excitement and joy from beating this stallion to death.

This euphoria quickly faded away though as the whole reality of the situation finally sunk into the mare. Passion realized she actually took joy in this brutal murder of a pony.

At first she didn’t know why she felt like this, until she notices the mask on her face. This was no coincident and if what the old stallion said is true, then this mask is the cause of her newfound sadism.

Weeks passed by and things only got worse. Turns out one hit weren’t enough to pay off her debt and she is called in to do more assassination jobs. She reluctantly continues doing them out of fear for her own life, but in doing so damning herself with the mask.

She needed to wear the mask while doing these missions. She didn’t like it, but the mask helps her complete her jobs. It gives her the drive and aggression to take out her targets and anypony that comes in between.

It really sickens her that she was actually enjoying the killing and is more than glad to take the mask off once she was done. But, while her sadistic nature is gone, the memories remain. Memories of all those ponies she killed.

Then came the day when she finally decided she had enough. She no longer wishes to continue anymore and wanted out. However, the crime boss won’t allow it so the mare knew she had one more pony to kill before she can end it all.

Getting into Crime Boss’s building was easy. All the guards knew her and assume she was called in for another job so they allowed her in. Passion wore the mask she dons on her missions and got some reactions from the guards.

Passion found secluded place and snuck into the vents. She crawls along the narrow passage way, searching for the Crime Boss’s room. It took her a while, but the mare eventually did find his room and what luck too, he was there all alone.

Breaking the vent door open she descends down to a surprise Crime Boss. Before he could do anything, Passion silences the pegasus stallion by shoving her hoof in his mouth, preventing him from calling for help. Then with her other hoof, she pulled out a pocket knife and repeatedly stabbed him in the stomach.

It was on the fourth stab when the Crime Boss fought back by biting into Passion’s hoof. She felt the immense pain from the stallion’s teeth and pulled her hoof back, but before swinging the knife into his neck.

The Crime Boss felt the blade pierce his neck and felt the blood spewing out. The Crime Boss swatted Passion away and fell down on the ground. He was dying, he has already loss too much blood and he can feel his life fading away.

Passion looks down at the dying stallion that enslaved her and smiled, glad to see this scumbag suffering.

Suddenly she heard the sound of hoofsteps coming from behind. She quickly turns around ready to fight, only to see it was the old unicorn stallion, the same pony a while back that gave her the mask.

She asked him if he was here to avenge his boss. The old stallion chuckled and said he doesn’t work for the Crime Boss. Instead he was here to check up on her. He remark about how much Passion changed in the last couple of weeks, from a meek pony to a cold blooded killer.

Passion mention how it was his mask that changed her, to which he retorts by saying the mask, had nothing do with it. He reveals that the mask was in a fact a cheap Nightmare Night Mask. He then continues on by saying it was in her along. She killed those ponies on her own volition, not because the mask influenced her.

Passion could not believe what she was hearing. If what this old stallion saying is true, then this whole time she really is a murderer.

The horrified mare accuses him of being a liar and refuses to believe she killed those ponies on her volition.

The old stallion then said it really doesn’t matter if she believes him or not. He has said what he wanted to said and left. Leaving the mare to reflex on everything she has learned.

Sometime has passed since that day and things are looking up for Passion Heart. She got herself a new job that actually pays well and with the new money, she moved into a better apartment building.

Yes, things were indeed going well for the mare. But, the stuff with the old stallion really had her thinking and after some soul searching she finally came to a conclusion with herself.

Passion Heart is killer. There’s no denying it, she killed those ponies and she enjoyed every second of it. However, she decided that she won’t go after everypony, she’ll only target the worse of them all.

Whether they be murders, slave traffickers or drug dealers they were all her targets and soon she’ll be coming for each of them one by one.

THE END