Spiritus Malum

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, under the light of Sweetie Belle’s horn, splattered through the mucky terrain underhoof. The walls of the cave were made of stone and coated with slime that reflected the light from the unicorn filly’s horn.

“Do y’all even know where we’re goin'?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Of course,” Sweetie Belle replied matter-of-factly. She gestured forwards with a hoof, muck clinging to it, “We’re going this way.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

“Wait,” Scootaloo said, halting in her tracks. Her ears perked up, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Shh, listen!”

Silence fell upon the tunnel and its occupants. The trio remained quiet and listened.

“I don’t...”

“Shh,” Scootaloo quieted Sweetie Belle.

The silence of the tunnel was almost thick enough to cut with a knife. Fear started to enclose the three filly’s hearts as they strained their ears. They heard nothing, the light glow of Sweetie Belle's magic only providing the bare minimum of light.

“RAWR!” Scootaloo yelled out, hopping into the air for emphasis.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle screamed in fright, grabbing hold of each other in fear. Scootaloo leaned against the slimy wall, laughing.

“Scootaloo!” The two growled angrily and separated. Sweetie Belle’s magic had failed and she quickly brought it back into effect, the tunnel being blessed with light again.

The young pegasus quickly realized that she was leaning on the slimy wall and supported herself with her legs, “Rainbow Dash said that pranking ponies was awesome and I couldn’t help but try it out! You should have seen the looks on your faces!”

Now that their bloodstreams weren’t full of adrenaline, the two other fillies did suppose that it was pretty funny and the troublesome trio had a little laugh.

Until something screamed and the fillies were brought back to their current situation.

“Wha...what was that?” Scootaloo asked, as frightened as the other two.

Silence fell over the tunnel again and Sweetie Belle threw a glance at Scootaloo. The pegasus looked frightened as they were. Whatever it was, this wasn’t another prank.

The trio stood still in silence, straining their ears for some form of sound. A blanket of fear fell over them once more as they stared into the unknown blackness.
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The fear essence that was filling the cave felt like a rejuvenating cup of coffee to the creature within the marble prison. It soaked up the fear that the fillies were giving out, but it knew—no not it, she knew that she needed more!

“We cannot fully survive on fear essence,” The second creature warned, its voice subdued and weak with fatigue.

Had she been a physical manifestation, the female would have looked back over her shoulder at him.

“We cannot drag deception or the other essences from these three in this state, we must push forth on fear until we may escape this prison and roam the land in a physical form again!” she snapped.

Still tired, the male didn’t respond.

The female dug into the draining confines of her deception reserves and drew forth more to scare the fillies. Had she a mouth, a smile would have crept across it.
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“H...hello?” Apple Bloom called into the dark in a frightened voice. Her cry was quieter than she had planned, but still echoed down the tunnel.

“Apple Bloom! What are you doing?” Sweetie Belle whispered, covering her friend’s mouth.

“The pony who screamed might know the way out,” Apple Bloom replied after removing her friend’s hoof from her face.

An unholy roar came from further down the tunnel, the way that they had come. It was faint, but very much audible and the three fillies froze up in fear. Their hearts raced in their chests, none of them were brave enough to dare ask aloud what that might have been.

On an unspoken word, the Cutie Mark Crusaders slowly began to trot backwards. Their straining ears, fueled by the fear in their bodies, began to hear things that weren’t there. The fillies stared into the darkness, hoping that nothing would come out of it and swallow them up.

There was a splatter of mud about ten yards in front of them. Then another...and another...and another.

There was something coming their way, something coming down the dark tunnel towards them. The fillies continued backwards, their hearts pounding in their chests and their breath coming out in sharp gasps as the thing in the darkness came closer and closer. Scootaloo wet herself.

It was a spark of bravery in Apple Bloom’s heart that finally allowed her to think clearly and she realized something.

“Sw-Sweetie Belle,” she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard, “Ah think that thing i-is comin after that light. S-stop cast-ting that spell and hug the wall.”

Sweetie Belle, too frightened to argue with Apple Bloom, did as she was told. The tunnel descended into darkness and the three fillies hugged the slimy wall.

Ever so slowly, the splatter of hoofsteps came closer and closer. They halted when the creature would have been right in front of the fillies and whatever it was, it made a low growling noise. The three fillies were on the verge of screaming and simply losing it out of complete and utter terror.

After a few more moments, the creature began down the tunnel once more, splattering slowly through the mud. The Cutie Mark Crusaders hardly breathed as the sounds eventually faded into nothingness.
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“Why did we make that...thing continue on its way?” The male asked.

“Fool, our reserves of deception essence are already low. We cannot create physical manifestations. That was simply a trick of sound no more capable of harm than a whisper,” The female replied, grouchy, “Besides, the filthy earth pony seems to radiate a sort of intelligence that might figure out our ploy if pushed in the right direction.”

The male gave a mental shrug of acceptance, he was still very tired.

“Sleep now, we shall gather our energy and soon retake our physical form. Then we may spread our signature upon Equestria once more!”
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The darkness began playing tricks on their eyes again and the silence was filled with noises that weren’t there. However, it just so happened that one noise really was there.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders! Y’all down there?” A voice echoed down the tunnel.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, despite the darkness, exchanged glances before looking back down the tunnel. Though it was far away, they saw a beam of light poking down from what was likely the opening in the well.

“Applejack!” They all cried out, galloping down the mucky tunnel.
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By the time the sun had gone down without a sign of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applejack realized that something was wrong.

She had grabbed a flashlight headband and flicked on the light as she strapped it to her hat.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She called out, playing the light over the surrounding area.

She charged up a hill for a better vantage point. Looking around from her spot, the rolling plains were shrouded in darkness and the flashlight had a very little effect on it. After a few swings of Applejack’s head, the flashlight played upon something in the distance. Applejack focused on the object, but her light couldn’t reach it enough to make it out from here.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders!” She called again, perking up her ears and listening for a reply.

When none came, she raced down the hill to the object. When she got closer, Applejack realized what it was: an old well.
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Their fear of the creature gone, the Cutie Mark Crusaders galloped down the tunnel towards the sound of Applejack’s voice.

“Applejack!” they cried out together.

They slid to a stop as the tunnel gave way to the well. A bright light shone down from the entrance of the well, blinding their sensitive eyes.

“How’d y’all get down there?” Applejack asked from the opening above, “Nevermind! I’m gettin y’all out!”

“Hurry!” called up Scootaloo, “There’s a monster in here!”

Applejack opened her mouth to ask about this ‘monster,’ but decided that it could and should wait for later. Now was the time for rescue, questioning the three could wait.

Applejack thought about how to get the fillies out, her mind wandered back to camp and happened upon the rope she had brought along.

“Y’all stay right here, I’m goin' back to camp to get some rope. Stay put!” Applejack wheeled around and shot back towards camp. She dug into her pack and retrieved the rope, praying that it was long enough to reach all the way down.

Applejack made her way back to the well and looked for something to tie the rope against. There was a single wooden post from the pulley system that once lay over the well, but it was rotting and looked too flimsy.

What else was there? The farmer thought quickly, if there really was a monster or wild animal down there then time was of the essence.

Could she bear the weight?

“Applejack?” Apple Bloom called up, "th-that you?"

The frightened sound of her sister’s voice set Applejack’s mind, she had to do this!

“I’m gonna throw a rope down, y’all grab on and I’ll see about pullin' ya'll up, okay?” Applejack called down, not bothering to listen for a reply as she got to work.

With her knot tying skills, Applejack fastened a makeshift bit on one end and clamped her teeth around it before tossing the other end down the well.

“Let me know when y’all are ready!” Applejack called over her shoulder towards the well.

There was a moment of silence, “We’re ready!” the three yelled out.

Applejack focused on the darkness in front of her and began pulling with all her might. She had never been the one to plow the fields before planting, but she had made sure to learn in case Big Mac had another accident. That fact combined with the fact that the Cutie Mark Crusaders weighed less than a plow meant that she could do this!

Applejack made slow but steady progress, hoof by hoof bringing the Cutie Mark Crusaders to safety. The cool night air helped to cool her off as she strained, she made a note to herself to consider having Apple Bloom get more exercise after this, the little filly was getting heavy. She might also have Rarity and whoever Scootaloo’s legal guardians were do the same for their charges.

Come to think of it though, Applejack didn’t remember meeting whoever took care for Scootaloo, she made a mental note to—

Her thoughts were blown away as the rope went slack and Applejack toppled forwards, faceplanting into the soft dirt and grass. Fear filled her as she realized the implications of what had just happened. Had the fillies fallen off? Had the rope snapped? Had...

She felt two hooves wrap around her side, “We were so scared, Applejack!” Apple Bloom cried.

Had her mouth not been full of dirt, Applejack would have breathed a sigh of relief. As it was, she spit out the gunk and turned to give her sister a hug back, making sure that the other two had made it as well. They had.

“Let’s get back to camp, what’s this talk of monsters about?”