Twilight Sparkle flipped the page over on the book she was reading. A thunderclap echoed from over her bench and interrupted her leisure time.

She looked up to check the sky. The weather app on her phone said today was supposed to be bright and clear. She checked the app again and saw it was still saying there were no forecasts for rain or thunder.

Twilight looked at the sky again. The outdoors were bright and sunny, looking as happy as an inanimate landscape could look. So why was there a sudden thunderclap? Was some villain loose and wreaking havoc havoc with magic?

Spike, her canine companion with the capability of communication since his exposure to portals, yelped and hopped onto the bench with her. She put a hand around him and pulled him close to her thigh to comfort him while he shivered.

“Ooh, I don’t like thunder,” Spike said.

“I know, Spike,” Twilight said.

“Do you think it’s going to rain? I think it’s going to rain.” Spike looked around.

“It shouldn’t. There’s hardly a cloud in the sky and the weather forecast says its not supposed to rain.”

“You can’t always believe in weather forecasts, Twilight.”

“True, but I do believe in science.”

“Good for you,” Spike said grumpily. He laid his chin down on the bench. “Some of us don’t have the benefit of being so clinical.”

“What’s this about, Spike? You sound like something’s upset you.”

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Spike scratched his ear. “I just can’t stop thinking about this spooky ghost story Rainbow Dash told the girls the other day. I happened to overhear. You know, with my keen dog hearing.” He infused his voice with a prideful gloat.

“Uh-huh,” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“She told this story about a haunted house around the city. “Some creepy abandoned mansion that’s, like, hidden inside Sweet Apple Acres. I’ll tell you, Rainbow Dash is a darn good scary storyteller. If she had the attention span to sit down for more than thirty seconds, she’d probably make a killing at being a horror novelist.”

“Uh-huh,” Twilight said, doubtful. “The Apple family keeps tabs on every inch of their farm. If so much as a worm makes a hole that wasn’t there before, they’d know about it. Now Rainbow Dash is trying to tell you, and you’re trying to tell me, that there’s somehow an entire mansion hidden somewhere on the farm? A mansion, I’ll add, that Applejack hasn’t told me anything about, even though we’ve been friends for months now and she hates keeping secrets and knows about all the magic that comes through the portal?”

“Don’t blame me,” Spike said. “It was Rainbow Dash’s story. Besides, she said it only comes once a year, on the full moon during Halloween.”

“Of course she did,” Twilight made a characteristic roll of her eyes. It would be just like Rainbow Dash to cover up the holes in her story like that.

Twilight glanced down at the book, then at the wall, then at the book again before snapping it shut.

“No, no, this is too much,” Twilight said. “I know Rainbow Dash is being Rainbow Dash and I should just ignore it, but I can’t. Come on, Spike. We’re going to investigate this. I will not this let stand.”

“I’m not going there! Did you miss the part where Rainbow Dash told me a spooky story about a haunted house and scared the daylights out of me? I repeat, key words: spooky, haunted, scared.”

“Fine, you don’t have to come,” Twilight said. “I’ll just go by myself. I have a good enough handle on my magic powers that I’m pretty sure I can fight off anything that comes below the Dazzlings on the Star Swirl Scale of Magical Threats that the other Twilight gave me. But you know … if you did come along, I’d bet it’d really impress all the girl dogs about how you were so brave.”

“Tch. Yeah, right. You’re not gonna get me with that one anymore. But I’m a little surprised at you, Twilight. We’ve got Sunset Shimmer, the other Twilight with wings, the Dazzlings, you turned into a horrible night demon … but you can’t accept the idea of a haunted house?”

“Good science requires positive skepticism. We can observe and verify all those things. But if Rainbow Dash is going around telling people that there’s a secret haunted mansion on the farm, then she’d better be prepared for when the Ghostbusters come knocking.”

“Yeah,” Spike took another scratch of his ear.. “You have fun with that. You want me to order you a proton pack while you’re out?”

“No need, I’ve already got one,” Twilight picked up Spike before he could respond to that. She brought him home to left in the care of Shining Armor while she set out on her expedition.

Applejack carted out a barrel of apples onto the wagon of a truck. After setting the barrel down, she saw Twiligh’s..

“Hey there, Twilight,” Applejack said. “What can I do for ya?”

“You could start by telling me whether or not there’s some kind of secret haunted mansion that appears in Sweet Apple Acres every Halloween on the full moon.”

Applejack stared at her and blinked. “Twilight, I can safely tell ya there that is no such haunted mansion.”

“Ha! I knew it,” Twilight smiled, pleased with herself. “Rainbow Dash really needs to start getting more creative with her ghost stories.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I think that girl took one too many soccer balls to the head,” Applejack knocked on her head.

“Well, thanks for your time, Applejack,” Twilight said, and moved to walk away.

“But … there is an old house nearby. Just a few blocks from the farm. If you go all the way down off a few blocks to the southeast here, and keep on until you run past the maple trees on Elm Street, you should be able to find it..”

Twilight turned back around. “So there is a haunted house?”

“I don’t know about haunted, but yeah, there’s an abandoned house.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“No reason to,” Applejack lifted up another barrel. “Be honest with me, Twilight. The fact that you know the house is there means the first thing you’re gonna do is go investigate, right?”

Twilight blushed. “Maybe.”

“And the house is old, been abandoned for as long as I’ve been around, and we’ve never much bothered with it. It’s not hurting nobody, anyone who ever needs a place to stay can find something better in town. Better to just leave it alone, you know? You’re still free to go investigate, if you really want.”

“I think I shall,” Twilight said. “I think I’ll even break out my proton pack for the occasion.”

“You do that,” Applejack said. “I still need to get this delivery ready for my folks in the west..”

And with that, Twilight left and thought about getting her proton pack out of storage before remembering her closet was a mess and she probably couldn’t find it. So she went without it.

Besides, it wasn’t like there could actually be ghosts in the house, could it? No. No, there couldn’t be. So she’d be fine without it.

Twilight arrived at the house and stood outside the door. The wind picked up and delivered a chill against her skin, her hairs standing on end.

“Calm down,” Twilight said to herself, patting her arm to smooth her hairs out. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just an old house, and your friends know to call someone if I haven’t texted them back in two hours.”

Twilight looked up at the house to reaffirm her initial assessment.

“Three stories.” Twilight observed. “A circular window on the top. Old, falling apart, not well maintained, but there’s nothing about that makes it creepy … or haunted.”

Twilight walked up the steps and knocked on the door. She didn’t want to disturb anyone if there were people living here, however broken down it might have been. The idea to her seemed questionable, but it may have simply been that they didn’t have the money to afford to move somewhere else or to pay for maintenance. Although the house was so broken down Twilight wondered why the city didn’t schedule it for demolition. If the people living here couldn’t afford upkeep, then unless their mortgage was paid off, they couldn’t afford living here either, could they?

And if there was no family, then the city surely would have either reclaimed or demolished by now, but here it stood, still tall and proud despite the cracks and holes in its framework.

“Hello?” Twilight said. “I don’t want to bother anybody, so just say the word and I’ll head on home.”

Twilight waited for an answer.

None came.

“Guess I’ll just head home, then ...” Twilight turned away from the door, but stopped. She imagined what Rainbow Dash would say if she went up to their friends and admitted she hadn’t actually gone inside the house.

“Ha! I knew it, you were too chicken! I told you that house was haunted!”

“It is not haunted,” Twilight affirmed, making a fist. “There is no such thing as ghosts, or haunted mansions, or any other thing Rainbow Dash wants to tell stories about! Granted, there is … magic, but that’s what comes through the portal from Equestria, on the other side. There could be ghosts there. This is here, on our side, and in our world, there is no such thing as ghosts. Or at least, no verifiable scientific evidence of ghosts.”

Twilight stroked her chin. If there were ghosts here, and she could bring back scientific, empirical evidence of such, she might just win a Nobel Prize for science. But she’d set out on this expedition under the assumption there were no such thing, and didn’t have any scientific instrumentation, and it would be too much time and effort to go back to her house to get something. If she did see anything, she’d have nothing but eyewitness testimony, which might be good enough for the courts, (perhaps in some cases too good) but not for a claim as easily dismissed as seeing ghosts.

“Might as well as least prove it to Rainbow Dash, at least,” Twilight said. She grabbed the knob and turned it. Just as it occurred to her that if there were people living here, they would lock the door, the door knob turned.

The door creaked loudly as Twilight opened it. She stepped inside.

“Hello?” Twilight called out, her voice echoing through the foyer. “Hello? Is anybody home? I don’t mean to intrude, I just heard rumors that this house was haunted and I wanted to see for myself. So, if you’re just a normal, regular family that’s just living and down on hard times, please, feel free to come out … if you’re a ghost or werewolf or something that’s hiding here, then also feel free to come out so we can do some science together on how you work!”

Would a werewolf even like science?

Maybe there was a ghost or a werewolf, and they were researchers like her, and they’d already done all the research into themselves, and didn’t want to go public with it yet for their own reasons. Maybe it wasn’t ready and they still had more experiments to run and more hypotheses to test before bringing it up to a council of peers. Maybe they didn’t want every hack ghost show on the AE station marching down to their house and disrupting their privacy.

“Hello?” Twilight called again. “Don’t be shy. I mean you no harm. My name is-”

Twilight halted. She still wasn’t much one for superstition, but something crept into the base of her spine and told her that giving out her name in this forsaken place would be a bad idea.

The door slammed shut behind her, startling Twilight.

“Whatever you are, please don’t eat me!” Twilight babbled, raising her hands up in the air and shivering.

“Eat you? Please. If the Great and Powerful Trixie were a cannibal, I’d think I could dine on finer fare than you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight lowered her arms to see Trixie standing by the doorway with her hand on the knob.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “What are you doing here?”

“What else?” Trixie said. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is searching through this forbidden mansion in search of long lost artifacts to channel her arcane magic during one of her fabulous show.”

“So … robbery, essentially.”

“What, no!” Trixie said. “This is a haunted house! And everyone knows there if you go into a haunted house, you can find magical haunted artifacts, and if you’re lucky, you can take them with you and tame them and use them for your own magic! I mean, that’s just basic sense.”

“Okay. Tomb raiding.”

“I prefer the word ‘scavenging,’” Trixie said. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m investigating claims about this house being ‘haunted,’” Twilight said. “Why’d you close the door?”

“It was getting chilly in here. Trixie does not like the cold.”

“Oh. All right.”

“Now that we’ve cleared all that way out of the way, you are free to go,” Trixie gestured to the door.

“Go?”

“You are disturbing Trixie’s feng shui. The Great and Powerful Trixie works alone.”

“Trixie, wait,” Her legs still bowed in the cowering-in-fear pose she’d taken a moment prior, Twilight fixed her posture.. “There might not be ghosts or whatever here, but it might still be dangerous. This house is old. There might be structural damage, or mold, or rats. Wouldn’t it be safer if the two of us stuck together so we could get help if something happened?”

Trixie tapped her chin. “You make a compelling argument, Twilight Sparkle. Very well. You may serve as the Great and Powerful Trixie’s sidekick, for a short while.”

“Sidekick?”

The glare Trixie gave encouraged Twilight not to question Trixie’s assessment, and that rolling with it would be her best way of getting along with the magician’s ego.

“Right, sidekick,” Twilight agreed with an uneasy smile.

“Onward, my assistant!” Trixie ordered, pointing at the stairs.

“Also, I’m pretty sure that’s not what feng shui means,” Twilight added as they approached the stairs.

“I’m sorry, who’s the magician and who’s the magician’s assistant? Because I’m pretty sure that I am the former and you are the latter.”

“I am an accomplished scientist who discovered ways to harness otherdimesional magic,” Twilight muttered under her breath. They climbed up the stairs, each stair squeaking loudly beneath their feet with every step.

Twilight tensed up, looking at the stairs with concern.

“Grow a spine, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie snapped. “The Great and Powerful Trixie cares not for your concerns. Besides, the more nervous you get, the more nervous you make Trixie.”

“Sorry. It’s just that a lot could go wrong. The ceiling might give out. Or the walls. Or the stair could give out and we could trapped there and stuck inside.”

“What did I just say about you making me nervous?” Trixie snapped.

“Right, right, sorry.” Twilight rubbed at her arms nervously. “So, what kind of magical artifacts are we looking for?”

“The magical kind, duh,” Trixie said. “Really, must Trixie explain everything to you?”

“No, I know that, but what kind of magical artifact are we talking about here? Are we looking for amulets, necklaces, rings? Cursed demon swords with the severed hands of their owners still attached?”

“I don’t know, just … magical,” Trixie said. “Tell you what, look for something that looks like its been well-maintained. If it is a magical artifact, then it’ll probably to keep itself shiny and clean even while the rest of the house is falling apart.”

Twilight blinked. “Wow, Trixie. I’m impressed. That’s a really good logical deduction.”

“You think so?” Trixie said, turning to Twilight and blushing. She recovered herself and cleared her throat. “I mean, of course. Trixie is only one of the foremost experts on magic in the entire Canterlot High educational district!”

“Yet you couldn’t figure out that Sunset Shimmer was actually from an alternate dimension before the crown incident,” Twilight muttered dryly under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“Hmm.” Trixie squinted and narrowed her eyes at Twilight.

One of the wooden beams supporting the stair guardrail snapped and popped out, clattering against the wall and taking a chunk of the railing with it. The sound startled Trixie, and combined with losing the piece of the rail she’d been holding, made her lurch forward. Twilight reacted swiftly, grabbing hold of Trixie by the midsection and keeping her from falling over and hitting her head.

“See? I told you this could be dangerous,” Twilight said.

“Yes, yes, Trixie’s powerful magic foresaw that this would happen. That is why I chose to let you be my assistant on this trip,” Trixie said, playing it all off as her own idea in order to cover up her bruised ego, though Twilight could still see the fear in her eyes. “Let go of Trixie. She does not feel comfortable with your hands on her hips.”

“The Tired and Exasperated Twilight is beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea,” Twilight muttered as she let go.

Trixie adjusted her clothes, making sure there was no dirt on them, and composed herself. “Come on. We’re almost to the second floor.”

They made their way up. Trixie reached out a hand to grab hold of the guardrail, then had second thoughts about it, instead keeping her hands in her pockets.

They reached the second floor, entering into a hallway with numerous doors on either side.

“Perhaps we should split up,” Trixie said. “You investigate the doors on the left, I’ll take the one on the right.”

“No!” Twilight grabbed Trixie’s arm when Trixie moved away. “The entire reason we teamed up was to keep somebody close by, remember?

“Yes, Trixie remembers. You underestimate Trixie’s memory,” Trixie jerked her arm free. “Fine. We need some way to search more efficiently than just random rooms.”

“Why don’t we start with the door on right here, then go down the hallway on that side, then loop back around to do the left side?”

“That’s a good idea!” Trixie said. “Glad I thought of it.”

Twilight sighed. One lesson she’d gotten out of this experience, at least; never work on a scientific paper with Trixie. She’d put her name first in 34-print bold type while leaving Twilight’s name as a little tiny 4-print font inset barely readable without a microscope.

The two of them shifted down towards the first door on the right and opened it slowly. There was no one inside. It was a bedroom with a queen size bed, a nightstand, a closet and a vanity.

“A bedroom!” Trixie said. “There’s sure to be some magical artifacts in here!”

“What makes you say that?”

“If you had a magical artifact, wouldn’t you want to keep it in your bedroom, somewhere close by where you could notice easily if someone was going through your things?”

“That’s a good point.” Twilight went over by the vanity while Trixie lifted up the covers of the bed. “How did you get to know so much about magic, Trixie?”

“Trixie learned and studied under some of the best magicians in the world, including my aunt and uncle. From them, Trixie learned a great many secrets, several of which could drive you absolutely mad, Twilight Sparkle, so don’t even think about asking.”

“I won’t,” Twilight said. “Trust me, I’ve been driven plenty mad before. Pro tip; peer pressure? Not a great feeling.”

Trixie felt the mattress with her hand, trying to find a secret compartment or pouch that the former owner might have hidden a magic item in. If not, perhaps she could find something that looked fancy that she could pass off as magic during one of her shows.

Trixie tried the pillow next. She lifted it up and saw nothing. She rotated the pillow over and shook it, but nothing fell out of the pillowcase either.

“Brr.” Twilight shivered, crossing her arms around herself. “Does it feel cold in here all of a sudden to you, Trixie?”

“Trixie has not noticed any change in the temperature of the room,” Trixie said. “Although it is entirely possible the heating in the building is off.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s it.” Twilight resumed searching the vanity, opening the drawings and sifting through them.

Trixie got on her knees and checked under the bed.

What she saw made her gasp. She saw a pair of pale, strong-looking legs wearing Mary Jane shoes standing on the other side of the bed. They weren’t hers, and they weren’t Twilight’s, so they had to belong to a third party, one who followed them in here.

Trixie jumped to her feet. “Who are-” she had her hand raised and finger pointed, only to be met with the sight of no one there.

“Who’s what?” Twilight asked, turning around.

Trixie nervously brushed a hand against her bangs.

Was I … seeing things? She thought.

To confirm, she got on her knees again and checked under the bed. This time, she didn’t see any legs, pale or otherwise.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “Are you okay? You’re starting to worry me. Do we need to go?”

“No, no,” Trixie said. “We’re fine. I’m fine. Just thought I might have found something.” She turned away from the bed and looked out the window, hoping nature would provide her a distraction from the troubling sight she’d just seen. Or didn’t see. But the window was no better than the bed.

“Twilight, wasn’t it midday when we entered the house?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah.”

“How come the moon’s out, then?” Trixie pointed at the window, where she saw the moon and stars glimmering brightly in the nighttime sky.

“That’s a good question.” Twilight approached the window. “The lighting and size is too accurate for it to be a poster or something … this window is too small for the kind of astrological display they use in the space museums. But then what … wait.”

Twilight felt around under the windowsill. She tapped on the wall, then found what she was looking for. She pulled on the string, and the ‘moon’ fell upwards, rolling up into a roll of tape.

“So it was just a poster! Just … a really accurate poster.” Twilight happily concluded. She turned to Trixie with a smile. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah,” Trixie said. “I, I mean, yes, of course. Obviously, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, would never be suckered in by such a cheap illusion.”

“Whatever you say,” Twilight said.

“Come on,” Trixie fanned herself. “Let’s look somewhere else. This room is getting too stuffy for my tastes.”

“We haven’t looked in the closet, yet. Also, how do you think it’s so stuffy when it’s so cold?”

“Twilight,” Trixie said, “I’m getting just … a real bad feeling from this particular room, so just … go with me on this one and let’s go somewhere else.”

“Okay,” Twilight said, doing her best reassuring voice. “Say no more.”

She and Trixie left the room. Twilight closed the door behind her. Trixie let Twilight take the lead to the next room over. Then, while Twilight wasn’t looking, she opened the door, reached in, pulled the lock, and shut the door again. The door’s lock was on the inside, so it wouldn’t keep anything inside from getting out, but it would keep her and Twilight from being able to go back in.

What did I see? Trixie thought. I know I saw something, but … maybe I should tell Twilight. No. No, I don’t want to scare her. And I don’t want to look weak in front of her! The Great, Powerful Trixie does not look weak in front of anyone!

Twilight tried to open the next door over, but it was locked. Not by Trixie, as far as Trixie knew.
“This one’s locked. We’ll have to do the next one over.” Twilight went to try the next door over, but it was also locked.

“This one, too,” Twilight paused. “Trixie, if this many doors are locked, that makes me think someone’s still living here. We should probably go before we get into trouble. I wouldn’t want them to call the authorities.”

No, Trixie thought, though her internal voice didn’t sound entirely right. Like her brain was having a wheeze after inhaling some pollen.

“No!” Trixie said. “We can’t leave yet. I’m not going to leave without something to show for putting myself through all this … trouble.” She briefly considered the word danger, but opted not to use it.

“Trixie, if someone’s still living here, then what we’re doing isn’t scavenging or artifact hunting, its stealing.”

“Trixie will leave an I.O.U,” Trixie said proudly. “And if you want to go home and leave Trixie alone to her hunt in this haunt, go right ahead. But it would be such a shame if something were to happen to me and you weren’t here to help me get out of it.”

“Ugh. Fine. But that was low.” Twilight made a fist.

“Trixie does what Trixie must to get her way.”

“Fine, fine. But I want you to know that from this point onward, I’m going to expect a favor for helping you with all this.”

“Acceptable,” Trixie said. “Trixie is nothing if not fair in her debts.”

Twilight could think of some incidents that disproved Trixie’s assessment of that, but decided not to speak of them as Trixie was the only living thing around and the only other person who could help Twilight out if she got into a bind in the house on Trixie’s behalf while exploring the house. A Trixie with a bruised ego might just be a Trixie who let Twilight get swallowed by living furniture, or dragged off into a closet.

They went down the hall, finding each door they tried locked.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Twilight said. “Maybe we should give up and just try the opposite side.” As she said this, the door she was trying – the thirteenth one they tried – opened and gave up. “Oh. Well, would you look at that.”

“That is the idea,” Trixie said. “That we are looking. Now let’s hurry up. Trixie’s tolerance for this place grows thin with every passing minute.”

“Do you want to call it off?” Twilight asked. “Because believe me, nothing would make me happier than getting out of here.”

Trixie grimaced. Twilight could tell from her expression she was thinking about doing so.

“No, not just yet,” Trixie said, crushing Twilight’s hopes. “Trixie thinks she has one or two more rooms’ worth of tolerance left in her.”

“That’s ‘one or two’ more than me,” Twilight muttered. Regardless, she went into the room, followed by Trixie.

This room was another bedroom, with a smaller bed and no deceptive moon posters on the window. There was a vanity, but the mirror on it was cracked and all the drawers were taken out, leaving it empty holes in the wooden block.

Twilight checked it anyway, crouching down and looking to see if there was anything that might have fallen under the vanity, or hidden behind the mirror.

“I’m not finding anything here,” Twilight said. When there was no answer, she turned and saw Trixie staring off into space. “Trixie? Trixie, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Trixie shook her head. “Trixie is fine. I just … thought I saw something.”

For a second, Trixie thought she had seen the Mary Janes again.

Without any hands to guide the knobs and pry the doors free, the closet door opened in the room.

“Twilight?” Trixie asked. “Did you open the closet while I wasn’t looking?”

“No. I could sworn I just saw you opening the closet.”

“Trixie did no such ...”

Trixie turned to the closest. Sitting there, waiting, posited between rows and bows of black dresses filled with strings and lacy frills, was a glowing pair of red eyes. Eyes sharp enough to cut through glass.

The red visage locked eyes with Trixie, and Trixie’s mouth halted.

There wasn’t a word passed between them, but Trixie felt the impression, a command, for her to claim responsibility.

“Yes,” Trixie said. At the bidding of the eyes, Trixie did her best to cover up the sudden monotone in her voice by enunciating more on the next words she spoke. “I opened the closet. While you were searching the vanity.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. She looked at Trixie with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am fine,” Trixie said, her voice dull.

“Trixie, I’m not ...”

Throw her off, a voice told Trixie. Throw her off, now.

“I’m fine!” Trixie insisted, snapping harshly and balling up her fists.

“Okay, okay,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry if I upset you by worrying too much. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to either of us.”

Reassure her.

“Trust me, Twilight Sparkle, nothing bad is going to happen to either of us. After all, we have me here, the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“If you say so,” Twilight said, entertaining Trixie’s delusion about her capabilities. She might have been a shut-in lab rat bookworm, but she got the distinct sense there were few situations where Trixie could be more competent and effective than she was.

A pale white hand emerged from between the clothes in the drawer. The hand made a gesture, joined by a command.

Come here.

Trixie proved unable to keep her body from obeying. Her legs moved on their own towards the space.

“Trixie will now inspect the closet,” Trixie said. The words felt like they were being pulled from her throat, as if a puppeteer attached strings and made a marionette of her voice.

Why isn’t Twilight Sparkle reacting? Trixie thought. Doesn’t she realize what’s going on?

She can’t see me, the voice said. Because I choose for her not to. Only you can see me, as of right now, my darling Trixie.

Don’t call me that, Trixie thought. And how do you know my name?

You’ve only said it almost every time you’ve spoke since coming into my house.

Trixie entered the closet, slipping past the dresses. They rubbed up against her skin and felt soft and freshly laundered.

On the other end of the dresses the closet was much larger than a closet had any right to be. It was almost its own room. Large enough to fit a chest of drawers into. Maybe two. But despite the size, Trixie felt claustrophobic and shut in, trapped like a rat.

Before her stood a tall, imposing, toned and busty woman. She wore a black sundress with an amethyst necklace around her neck. Her eyes were red and her skin was pale white, and her hair was dark, short and curly, reaching to her shoulders.

She was wearing the Mary Janes.

Trixie gasped. Or she would have, if not for the air leaving her throat. She was paralyzed. Her breath was thin. She couldn’t move. Could barely think. Her eyes were locked with the woman’s and she couldn’t look away. That stare gave her a tasty fearful sensation, like what adrenaline seekers felt when they skydived off a plan.

“Normally,” the woman said, cupping Trixie’s chin, “my kind does not approve of strangers coming into a house without invitations. But I must admit, you’ve afforded me an exceptional opportunity, bringing food to me house so I don’t have to go and hunt for it myself. For that, I must thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Trixie said automatically, even though her mind thought differently. It was like she couldn’t hear her own thoughts.

Mind your manners, the woman said without speaking, yet Trixie could hear.

“You know what, you’ve done such a good service for me, I think I’ll even give you a small reward. I’ll make this as brief and painless for you as possible. How does that sound? No, no, no need to say anything – I know you’ll thank me later. Now, hold out your hand.”

Trixie did so, despite her certainty agreeing to this was a bad idea.

“Take this,” the woman held out a fist and uncurled her fingers, dropping an object into Trixie’s palm. It was a tiny, double-sided pyramid, shaped like a fine-cut crystal.

“Now, go, my faithful servant,” the woman said. She stepped backwards and disappeared into the shadows.

Trixie blinked, and she was gone. Not only was the woman gone, but so were Trixie’s recollections of how she got here, as well as any evidence of there being anyone inside the closet to begin with.

“Where am I?” Trixie asked. She scratched at her head and noticed what she was holding. “What is this?” she raised the object up. It was smooth and polished to the point where she could make out her reflection in its surface, dim light notwithstanding.

“Is this what I’ve been looking for?” Trixie asked. “Yes … yes, it must be! Twilight!”

Trixie ran out of the closet, pushing the dresses aside.

“Twilight, we can stop searching now!” Trixie declared. “I think I’ve found something!”

“Great!” Twilight said. “What is it? Never mind, let’s go now and figure it out later. We’re going to be later for dinner if we stuck around much longer.”

“Hold on just a minute ...” Trixie balanced the item between her index fingers.

“Oh, that’s right, you were supposed to leave an I.O.U, remember?”

“What? No. Trixie wants to get a closer look at it, that’s all.”

“Trixie ...” Twilight said despondently, “we can’t just go in here and take things that don’t belong to us. I suppose that’s exactly what we’re doing, but we shouldn’t be! I don’t even know why I agreed to help you this far. I’m under duress!”

“Oh, be quiet,” Trixie said. “Besides, it does belong to me. It was given to me freely.”

Twilight braced her knuckles against her hips. “By who?”

“By -” Trixie answered, startled to realize she couldn’t remember. “It’s not important now. What is important is – ah!”

Trixie yelped. She pricked her finger against the tip of the diamond, and dropped the item to the floor. Her finger bled and left a lining of blood around her finger pad.

“I’ll get it,” Twilight said. She picked the item up, careful to learn from Trixie’s mistake and pick it up with her palm around the middle rather than the tip. “You were saying? Oh, that looks bad,” she added when she saw Trixie’s finger.

“It’s fine,” Trixie insisted. “Trixie has had worse cuts while performing her magic show.” She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked up the blood. When she pulled out, her finger was healed. “See? Fine.”

“Uh-huh,” Twilight said. “Anyway, here’s your … whatever it is.” Twilight offered the item to Trixie.

“Why don’t you keep it for now, Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie said. She drew her hand away and wrapped her other hand protectively around her finger. “Trixie is reluctant to pick up the thing that just cut her so quickly.”

“Understandable,” Twilight held the object up to the light. “I sure hope whatever this thing is worth all this trouble to you, Trixie.”

“Oh, trust me, Twilight,” Trixie said. “It’ll be all worth it.”

“If we’re done here, why don’t we leave and go home before the owners get back? I really don’t want to get into any more trouble than I already have.” Twilight headed towards the door.

“I don’t think we need to worry about the owners,” Trixie said under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Um … Trixie said, ‘it would be nice not to have to deal with the owners’!”

“Yeah, I know. That’s what I’m saying. Now come on, Trixie. Let’s go.”

“Keep your pants on,” Trixie said. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is low on blood sugar.”

“You didn’t think to eat before coming to a creepy house?” Twilight asked as she and Trixie returned to the hallway. “I made sure to load up on protein. I may sometimes forget to have breakfast, but I know what I need for expeditions.”

“Trixie ate plenty before coming here! She just … has a condition.” Trixie turned away and blushed.

“Okay,” Twilight said. “If that’s the story you want to go with.”

“It is the story I want to go with, and I’ll thank you not to be rude and assume you know my conditions!”

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “It’s just that Rainbow Dash has a ‘condition’ and it tends to show up whenever she doesn’t want to do work.”

“Hmph! Trixie, unlike your Rainbow Dash, does not need an excuse to get out of doing work!”

Twilight paused and stared at Trixie.

“That didn’t come out right,” Trixie said quickly.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Twilight said. “Anyway, we should stop chattering and get out of here. What are we, the cheerleaders?”

“Trixie does not see what is wrong with being a cheerleader and objects to your use of stereotypes.”

“Twilight notes this,” Twilight said. Her eyes widened. “Aw, dang it, now you’ve got me doing it, too.”

“Doing what?”

Twilight blinked, looking at Trixie and wondering if she was serious or pulling her leg. She did not look like she was serious, so either she had an incredible poker face or she genuinely didn’t realize how much she referred to herself in third person.

“… nothing, never mind.” Is she really that oblivious to how she talks?

The two of them approached the stairs. As they got closer and closer, Trixie developed a creeping feeling that it would be bad for her if she went outside.

“Wait.”

Twilight groaned loudly. “What now?”

“There’s still a third floor we haven’t explored,” Trixie said.

Twilight glared at Trixie. “Really? You’re going to make me go even further into the creepy house?”

“Think about it, Twilight! If you were keeping magical artifacts around, wouldn’t you put them in the uppermost level of the house?”

“Trixie … I really think we should leave. We’ve already pushed our luck enough as it is.”

“No!” Trixie said. “Trust me on this, Twilight. I’ve got a really good feeling about this one. That third floor will be our lucky break.”

“Our lucky break?” Twilight sighed. “Look. Go ahead if you want. I’m getting out of this creepy house. I might not have evidence to entirely disprove that there’s a ghost here, since you can’t proof a negative, but I think I have enough to tell Rainbow Dash off.”

Twilight headed down the stairs.

Trixie balled up her fists. “Twilight, please! Trixie doesn’t feel comfortable exploring this creepy old house without you!”

“Then if Trixie is smart, Trixie will leave with Twilight,” Twilight replied.

Trixie inhaled sharply. She laughed, which Twilight found confusing.

“Oh, I see what’s going on here,” Trixie said. “You think, if you leave, Trixie will have no choice but to leave with you. But you’re not the best poker player here, Twilight. Being a magician is all about deceptions and bluffs. I am going to stay right here, turn around, and go up to that third floor. And then you’ll know what will happen? You’ll follow me. Because you’re a goody two shoes, and you can’t stand the thought that I might get hurt while you’re not around to help me. Besides … I think you might like me.”

“What?” Twilight blushed. “That’s ridiculous. Trixie, I know it’s in your nature, but stop being ridiculous. Come with me or don’t, but I’m leaving, whether you like it or not.”

“No, you’re not,” Trixie said. “You’re going to stay to keep an eye on me.” Trixie turned around and walked down the hallway. She ascended the stairs to the next floor.

“Trixie?” Twilight called. She saw Trixie going up the next flight of stairs. “Trixie, really, knock it off! Trixie? Trixie!”

Trixie went on right up to the third floor as though she didn’t even hear Twilight.

“Fine! Go up there and hurt yourself! See if I care. Maybe if we’re really lucky, the owners will come back and deal with you, and then you won’t be my problem anymore!”

Twilight resumed heading down the stairs. She was halfway down the flight when her mind tormented with visions of horrible things happening to Trixie that could have been prevented if she had someone (say, someone like Twilight) there to pull her out from under collapsing support beams or pry open a closet she locked herself inside.

“Damn it.”

Twilight pulled out her phone and quickly typed up a text.

Still in old spooky house Rainbow Dash talked about. Chasing after Trixie, who’s being a dunderhead. Send help if not back in another hour.

Twilight pressed the send button. She saw in the corner of her screen her phone say it had only one bar of reception, but her messaging app said the text went through, so she assumed it had.

She turned around and went up the stairs, down the second floor hall, and up the stairs to the third floor.

“Trixie!” Twilight shouted. “Trixie, you were right! I can’t stand the thought of letting you get hurt because I wasn’t there to help you. Now come on. Get out here and … maybe I’ll help you keep looking. At the very least, I can keep anything from falling on your and breaking your bones. Trixie?”

Twilight surveyed the left and right sides of the new hall. She went to the first door on left, opened it, swept the room, saw nothing, and went to open the first door on the right and repeated the process beat for beat, including the part where she saw nothing.

“Trixie, where are you? Come on, Trixie. This isn’t funny anymore. Where did you go? Come out! Trixie! Trixie!” Twilight put her hands around her mouth to enhance her shout. “Trixie, get yourself where I can see you! Is this supposed to be funny? Cause if it is, I’m not laughing and you need a better sense of humor!”

Twilight got her phone back out.

Trixie got herself lost or something. Ignore earlier message. Send help now.

Twilight hit send and worried about whether or not the one bar reception would be enough to reach her friends.

“Can’t worry about that,” Twilight said to herself. “I need to find Trixie. Trixie! Trixie!” She checked the next nearest available door and opened the room to an empty bathroom.

“Well, if I was going to find her in the bathroom, I think it would be pretty obvious that she was here,” Twilight mused to herself, closing the door and moving on.

But Trixie wasn’t hiding by choice.

When she reached the third floor, the sunlight came in from the window struck her, and she felt an unpleasant, fiery sensation run through her body as if her cells were infected. Unable to stand it, she ran into the nearest open door she could find, which just happened to be be another bedroom … one with a large window in it. So she ran for the bedroom closet and hid there until her body calmed down and she no longer felt so painful.

She hadn’t heard Twilight calling her name through closet door, and her body still felt weird and painful from its brief sunlight exposure.

“You know, when I told Twilight I had a condition, I thought I was making it up, too, but now I’m wondering if I really do have something. Something that makes me allergic to the sun.” She raised up her hand and examined it for evidence of medical problems. It looked fine. There was no surface cut or inflamed vein to suggest she suffered through anything worse than a sunburn that had already gone away.

She looked at her finger, the one she pricked earlier. She squinted at it. There was no evidence of any cut.

Granted, she had a high opinion of herself, which might have contributed to a positive feeling that would help improve her feeling, but she didn’t think she had superpowers. The cut disappeared much too quickly. There should have an impression left over.

Trixie heard something creaking in the room. Tentatively, she opened the closet door. The light in the room didn’t feel as bad as earlier, but with the big window there, she was reticent to abandoned her place of safety and comfort so easily.

Until she saw it.

There was a rat in the bedroom with her.

Trixie gasped. When the noise drew the rat’s attention to her direction, Trixie held her breath. She was disturbed to find holding her breath as easy as she did, but she assured herself it was from all the training she’d done as magician, some of which involved underwater tricks.

Despite her best efforts to mute herself, the rat remained in her direction. It skittered across the room, zigzagging across the carpet and instilling Trixie with a false hope that it would leave her alone. But the rat continued getting closer, eventually joining her in the closet and scurrying around her feet.

Trixie whimpered, looking down at the rat. Its fur was dark and matted in several knots, like it gotten burs stuck in its fur. Its thin tail dragged behind it on the floor.

Trixie was frightened out of her wits. Such that she didn’t even think to question the rat getting this close to her. As deadly and full of pestilence and bile as it might have been, it was still just a rat. A small thing compared to her. She could crush it beneath her foot easily, if she didn’t mind getting a little bit of guts spilled on her shoe. Ignoring the fact she did mind this, the rat stopped moving.

Not only had it stopped, it was looking up at her as if expecting something from her.

“What do you want from me?” Trixie snapped at it. “Shoo! Shoo! Go, rat, go! The Great and Powerful Trixie wants nothing to do with your presence!”

The rat squinted at her. It turned around and headed towards the middle of the carpet. It stopped and looked behind herself, as if expecting her to change her mind.

Trixie’s breath became heavy. She was acutely aware of each contraction of her lungs, every breath in and every exhale out. Her lungs slowed to a crawl.

The rat took a few paces back towards its hole, then stopped again to look at her. It moved again and stopped right in front of the wall.

Trixie stepped out from the closet. Not entirely aware of what she was doing or why, she moved towards the rat.

The rat held still, as calm as a monk in their steeple.

Trixie got down on her knees, examining the rat. She held out a finger towards it. The rat sniffed at her appendage.

Then she grabbed it by the body.

“Trixie!” Twilight called out. “Trixie, where are you? I’m getting worried sick! If you don’t come out this instant, I’m going to leave and come back with the EMRTs, and I really don’t want to have explain to them what I was doing in a house I wasn’t invited to!”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Trixie said, stepping out of her hiding room. “I’m here.” She wiped some blood off her chin.

“There you are!” Twilight said. She ran up to Trixie and embraced her tightly. It gave Trixie a funny feeling in her chest. “Do you have any idea how scared I was for you?”

“I know, I know, worried sick,” Trixie said. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I shouldn’t have put you through that. From now on, I promise, I’ll be a better friend. If I have to manipulate you to get you do something, then I should take that as a sign I probably shouldn’t it.”

“I’m glad to hear it, and that I could provide a valuable lesson in friendship for you, even if I had to go through this spooky house to do it,” Twilight said.”By the way … I didn’t ask at first because I was so happy to see you, but what’s with the blood on your chin?”

“Oh, that,” Trixie wiped it off with her sleeve. “I tripped and hit my face on the floor.”

“Hard enough to bleed?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Huh. You must have taken quite a tumble, then!”

“I sure did!” Trixie moved away from the door. “But enough with the pleasantries. Why don’t we head out? You and I have a lot to talk about, cutie.”

“I’m sure we – wait, cutie?” Twilight glared at Trixie, but before she could press further, she saw the bloody body of rat on the floor in the room lying in a pool of gore. “Uh, Trixie? Do you know anything about this rat?”

“Rat? What rat? Oh, that rat. It was like that when I found it. Anyway, why don’t we get going? I’m sure your friends want to know you’re all right.”

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed, somewhat uncertain. She followed Trixie down the stairs, but couldn’t help from taking one last glance over her shoulder at the poor unfortunate rodent. It would make Fluttershy so sad.

“Forget the rat, Twilight. It’s not important. Shall we head down?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, please! I’m so ready to get out of this creepy place and to stop possibly breaking the law before the police or the owners find us.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Trixie said. “Sure, the wood’s all rotten and holey, it smells weird in almost every other room, and it’s strange that some of it is falling apart but all the beds have been made and the closets are organized, but I think it’s surprisingly nice once you get used to all the little … idiosyncrasies.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. Was Trixie looking at the same house as her? Because the house Trixie was describing was not the house they were currently in. And since when did Trixie use big words like ‘idiosyncrasies’ in her speech like that, and work them in so smoothly, too?

Trixie stopped just ahead of the stairs and turned around to Twilight. “Are you okay, Twilight Sparkle? I sense distress coming from you.”

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured her, despite wondering when Trixie suddenly developed a sense of empathy, and one that could pick out her emotions so easily. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Right, right, of course.”

They walked down the stairs, Trixie taking the lead. “So, tell me, Twilight Sparkle, have you given any thought to what you want to do with your life?”

“Do? What do you mean, do?”

“I mean, have you ever thought about settling down? Finding a husband? Having children?”

“Can’t say I have, no. Come to think of it, I’ve always thought I wouldn’t make a very good wife. I lock myself in my lab all day and forget to feed myself. I’d probably forget to feed the kids, too, if I were a stay-at-home mom, and if I went out to work while my husband took care of the kids, they’d probably never see me because I get caught up in research and wouldn’t get back to the house until 2 AM in the morning.”

“That’s a shame,” Trixie said, though Twilight couldn’t see the grin on her face. “I think a girl as pretty as you would have no trouble finding a husband, Twilight. Or maybe even a wife. One with long, smooth hair.” She ran a hand through her locks as if to suggest herself.

“Come on. Let’s hear it.”

“Hear what?” Trixie asked.

“You know. The subversion. The turnaround. The backhanded part of your backhanded compliment. I know you, Trixie, and I know you wouldn’t just pay a random compliment to someone, anyone, unless you could get an insult into them somewhere, or make it sound like you’re better than them. So let’s get it over with. What is it?”

“Is it so hard to believe I might change?” Trixie asked, holding her hands behind her back in a professional manner. “Perhaps I’ve decided to pay you a compliment or two as a thanks for journeying with me through this terrible haunted place despite your obvious discomfort with doing so.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying it,” Twilight said. “Although you are speaking a little differently than I’m used to from Trixie … have you ever thought about writing a book? Like a novel?”

“Perhaps I shall,” Trixie said. “Perhaps I’ll even make it a horror novel based on our experiences here.”

“Well, that would be a little cliché, but I guess if it’s your first book you’d want to start off with something simple and easy. Definitely not like Kafka’s Metamorphosis right off the gate.”

“Yes. Definitely not. I must admit, I’m developing a growing appreciation for your literary bent, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Thanks.”

“Perhaps some other things of yours could be bent as well…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Trixie continued walking down the steps. She came to a halt, noticing a change. She didn’t hear Twilight’s footsteps following her anymore, and with old and worn the stairs had become, it was extremely unlikely that Twilight could have walked on the stairs without making any noise, no matter how light she was on her feet or soft her steps.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie asked, turning around. Twilight had a hand on the guardrail, looking down at Trixie with suspicion.

“Okay, Trixie,” Twilight said. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with me.”

“Of course.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Trixie sighed. “If you insist. Pinkie Promise. Now, what is your question?”

“You’ve been acting differently since we came down from the third floor. So here’s what I want to ask you, Trixie. Have you been possessed by a ghost?”

Trixie stared at Twilight and blinked several times, processing this question.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie swept an arm in front of her chest and bowed like a servile butler, “I can assure you, with complete and total one-hundred percent honesty, that I have not been possessed by a ghost.”

Twilight looked around.

“Okay. I guess you must be telling the truth. If you were lying, Pinkie Pie would have come screaming through the door. Maybe with an ax or something.”

“Perhaps she would punch a hole in and shout ‘here’s Pinkie!’” Trixie said.

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah. That sounds like something Pinkie Pie would do.”

“Perhaps my … unusual behavior is the result of exposure to some undesirable mold. I hear carbon monoxide can induce terrible hallucinations.”
“Yeah, but if that were the case, wouldn’t I be acting funny, too? I mean, you didn’t go into that many other rooms than me other the one on the third floor and the closet.”

“Perhaps. But tell me, Twilight. If I were acting strange, and you were acting strange, would I be able to tell you were acting strange if I was compromised myself?”

“I … no, I don’t think so.”

With that frightening thought on Twilight’s mind, they completed their descent of the flight of stairs, returning to the second floor.

Twilight followed Trixie through the second floor. Trixie came to a stop, and Twilight couldn’t react in time, so she bumped into Trixie, getting a face-full of Trixie’s silvery hair.

“My, my, Twilight. If you wanted to take a sniff of my locks, all you had to do was ask,” Trixie said.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Twilight untangled herself from Trixie. “So why’d you stop?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Trixie said. “I merely … thought I saw something.”

Trixie looked ahead down the hall. One of the doors to the room was open, and sunlight was coming through, casting onto the hallway floor from the room’s window.

Biting her lip and bracing her nerves, Trixie stepped forward, awaiting a searing pain to flow into her foot when she stepped across the threshold.

She stepped closer to the sunbeam, and when her foot set into the path of the light, the pain she awaited came to her. Her foot flared up. It was like her blood was on fire.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked.

“It’s nothing, just twisted my foot the wrong way,” Trixie said. She glared at the bedroom and grabbed the door, pulling it shut, moving it slowly so as not to startle Twilight. The sunlight faded, and Trixie sighed.

The pain her foot ebbed away.

“What did you do that for?” Twilight asked.

“No reason,” Trixie said. “The Great and Powerful Trixie simply has a preference for things being orderly. I could not stand to let this door remain ajar when all the rest of them are closed.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “But if that’s the case, then we’re going to be here awhile. There are a lot of doors we left open down this hall.”

“Aah … that is no problem,” Trixie said. “We’ll simply go back and close them, yes. Perhaps doing so will allow you to breath in the atmosphere of the house and help you to appreciate it the same way I do.”

“That seems unlikely,” Twilight said.

“It should also reduce the chances of the owners coming back and realizing someone’s been through their house … should they return.”

“Yeah, sure. Wait, what do you mean, should they return? Are they not coming back? Do you know something I don’t?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie knows many things you don’t, Twilight Sparkle.”

“See, now that sounds like the way the Trixie I know normally speaks.”

“But think about it,” Trixie said. “The beds notwithstanding, if a family was still living here, wouldn’t they try to take better care of the place? Perhaps they were too poor to afford proper care, but they could at least dust and sweep the floor, couldn’t they?”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Of course it does. Trixie is the best at logical deduction.”

“But that really doesn’t explain the beds.”

“Ah, yes, the beds … my theory would be that the family that was squatting here in squalor, if there even is such a family, made the beds and had intended to return, but have been unable to do so.”

“Wow, Trixie,” Twilight said. “You’ve really thought all of this through, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Trixie said. “During my brief separation from you, I found a secluded area that gave me ample time and space to ponder these very questions you’re asking me now. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps there is still a family living here, and they haven’t paid to maintain the house simply because they have gone on a long vacation and thus are unaware of the abysmal state it’s in. But, I doubt you or I feel like sticking around long enough to test that hypothesis, do we?”

“No,” Twilight fiddled with her fingers, her eyes fallen over a cobweb between the ceiling and the wall. It gave her goosebumps. How many spiders were here, and were they the venomous kind? “No, we do not.”

“I thought as much. Besides, this is … hardly the most fitting setting for the kind of conversations I’d want to have with a beautiful lady like yourself.”

“Oh, really? Gee,” Twilight fiddled with her glasses. “I … Trixie, I don’t know what to say.” She blushed.

She wondered if maybe she was starting to return Trixie’s affections. She did seem more attractive … more confident since they came down from the third floor.

Have I always felt like this? Twilight wondered.

Trixie stopped again.

“I’m growing impatient. Twilight, what do you say we just run down these stairs?”

“Run down?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know, these stairs are so old and creaky … that doesn’t seem like it would be very safe.”

“Come on,” Trixie said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Nothing-”

A horrible shriek tore through the hallway. It sounded as if a bat had been given a megaphone.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, fear rising in her chest.

“Twilight, do you trust me?” Trixie asked.

“I ...” Twilight pursed her lips. “Yes, Trixie. I trust you.”

“Then trust in me when I say that you should run! Go! I’ll hold it off, whatever it is!”

“Are you sure?”

“No time to argue! Go!” Trixie grabbed Twilight by the shoulder and swung her around, pushing her towards the stairs.

Twilight gave a worried glance over her shoulder before sprinting down the hall. She arrived at the flight of stairs and went down as fast as she could.

As she feared might happen, one of the stairs gave out from under her. A sinkhole appeared in the wood, and her leg dropped straight through it.

“Damn!” Twilight grabbed her thigh and tried to pull it free. She heard bats shrieking behind her.

“Get back!” Trixie shouted. “Get back, you vile beasts! You are no match for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Despite knowing she shouldn’t, and that every look backwards only hampered her chance of successful escape, Twilight looked over her shoulder again to see how Trixie was doing. But she couldn’t see Trixie, or the bats she was fighting with.

I’ve never known bats to be so aggressive, Twilight thought. Normally they’re docile until provoked, and like any small mammal, would rather avoid a fight than pick one.

There was another one of the megaphone bat shrieks.

No time to think about biology. I need to get out of here and come back with help, or Trixie’s sacrifice will be meaningless.

With a mighty grunt, Twilight heaved her leg out of the broken stair. She resumed going down the stairs, being much more careful and cautious, going slowly despite the presence of danger.

She heard Trixie let out a pained yell. Twilight’s heart wanted more than anything to go back for her and help pull her out of whatever horrible swarm of bats was accosting her, but she knew that was the wrong play. The best thing she could do would be to run, run as fast possible, and get out of here.

Having reached the bottom of the stairs and returned to the first floor, Twilight darted for the entrance.

Something tugged on her ankle, and she tripped. She looked around to see a thin, black, fuzzy mist curling around her ankle like a tentacle.

“Get off!” Twilight shouted. She kicked at it, and the mist let go. She got to her feet and headed for the door.

She flung the door open and raced onto the yard.

Almost clear, Twilight thought. The sidewalk grew closer with every step.

She heard an odd warbling sound. The shadowy mist that tripped her inside the mansion spilled over to the outside. It raced in front of Twilight, blocking off her escape, and grew more solid, more consistent.

Instead of a fuzzy black mist, it adopted a wispy, shadow appearance like thick, dark smoke with streaks of purple through it.

The miasma rose up off the ground, just enough to blot out the sun and in case Twilight in total darkness. She heard wicked feminine laughter coming from above her in every direction.

“Ugh.” Twilight covered her mouth with her arm to avoid inhaling the smoke. It wasn’t regular smoke, of that, she was certain, but that just made her want to avoid breathing it in even more.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight turned around at the sound of her name. Despite the thickness of the smog, she could make out Trixie standing across from on the mansion grounds.

“Trixie?”

“You are...” Trixie took a staggered step forward, as if she acquired a limp. “So beautiful. And so arrogant. To think that we would ever let a beauty like you slip away from our grasp.”

“Who’s we?” Twilight asked. She narrowed her eyes. “And what do you mean, ‘let’? I’m getting out of here and you can’t stop me.”

At least, that was what Twilight said, but she locked eyes with Trixie and her body felt numb. Locked with Trixie’s bright, red eyes.

“Stay there,” Trixie ordered, and Twilight felt no choice but to obey. She tried to move her shoulders, but they felt limp and like they were buried under twenty pounds of cement.

“T-Trixie?” Twilight stammered. “I thought … you told me … you weren’t possessed by a ghost.”

“I did tell you that, and I am not,” Trixie said. She advanced forward, still limping. “Do you know what I am, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight got a good look at Trixie. Her skin was bleach white. Her clothes had turned a dark, soulless black that she could only barely make out against the black smoke swirling around them.

“Y-Yes,” Twilight stammered.

“What am I?”

“You’re a ...”

“Go on. I want to hear you say it, Twilight. What am I?”

“V-vampire.”

“Very good,” Trixie said. “And you know what’s going to happen now?”

“Trixie, please. You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m afraid I do,” Trixie said. “I am going to turn you into a vampire.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Trixie’s eyes flashed brilliantly, glowing like rubies in the darkness. “Come here.”

“Yes, mistress,” Twilight said. Her eyes were locked on Trixie’s. Her eyes seemed so limitless. Like funhouse mirrors reflecting off each other, showing her a world full of infinite possibilities, possibilities that could all be hers if she just submitted.

Twilight felt heavy, oh so heavy. Too heavy, her body was too heavy. The only cure was to make it lighter, to bare her neck and let Trixie drain her of this awful congealed weight, the disgusting pulsing beneath her skin.

She staggered forward slowly to Trixie, each step taunting her, heralding her now inevitable demise. Her brain was foggy. She couldn’t think. All she could focus on was Trixie. Trixie, who looked … so beautiful with her pale skin contrasting against the black smoke. Trixie, who’d been with her through the entire house. Trixie, who loved her and would never ever hurt her.
Twilight stood before Trixie.

“Strip for me.”

Twilight slipped her lab coat off, dropping it to the floor. She pulled her shirt up over her head, exposing the dark bra she wore. She unhooked the bra and dropped it onto the sidewalk, her bare chest exposed for both Trixie and Trixie’s own mistress to enjoy.

Trixie grabbed Twilight and pulled her closer. Trixie’s fangs deployed from her mouth and she bit down hard into Twilight’s neck. Blood flowed from the punctured veins and poured over Twilight’s breast and down her stomach.

Twilight gasped, and it would be the last breath she took. Her lungs shut down soon after.

Trixie’s cunt winked, getting wet, and Trixie felt a cold drip flow down her crotch. The drip became a flow, as she squirted into her skirt, caught in the throes of an orgasm she could only feel half of, but the half she did feel was better than anything she had ever felt before, as if she unlocked some new level of sex previously unknown by either science or sex toy marketing executives.

Oh, it’s so good! Trixie thought to herself. It was like biting into an exotic, succulent fruit and drinking the juice out of straight the skin. She traced a hand across Twilight’s bare chest and down her stomach. Trixie never thought she’d be so turned on by feeling a body grow cold, yet here she was. She could feel the life draining out of Twilight, the spark, the light, snuffing out and joining Trixie in the total darkness of the walking dead.

Don’t worry, Twilight Sparkle, Trixie thought, and she knew Twilight could hear her. I’ll take good care of you. And then, when we’re done, you can go and take care of your friends. All your friends. You can drink from them. You can make them feel the same way I’m making you feel now. You were so heavy before, with your awful, awful blood congealing inside you. Don’t you think your friends would feel the same way? That they would love if you helped them got rid of all that cumbersome blood making them so, so heavy and lighten them up. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Yes, Twilight thought back, her eyes wide, frozen in shock. Yes, that does sound nice.

It’s not so bad, Twilight thought. It hardly felt like dying at all. It was more like passing out, then waking quickly afterwards.

It was in fact quite good. There came a perverse sexual pleasure from the exchange of fluids. Sex was considered a ‘success’ by most when someone or the other expelled fluids from their body. So what if Twilight agreed to expel a different kind of fluid? It was just as good sex as any other. Maybe even better.

While her body felt number and number with every passing second and every flowing drop, her mind felt transcendent. As if she ascended to a higher plane of sexual pleasure. The kind only those willing to give themselves over to the dark mistresses of the night could attain. If she could cum right now and squirt all over Trixie, she would have, but orgasms required blood to still flow through her thighs, which was no longer the case.

Twilight sighed heavily. Her skin gradually lost color, turning from her distinct lavender shading into a pure bleach-white which matched Trixie’s. Her clothes did the same, turning into a dark black, blending in with the smoke. If she could see herself in a mirror, the smoke would make her limbs look like they were attached to an invisible torso.

It took a long struggle for Trixie to stop sucking even after she’d completely drained Twilight’s corpse. But eventually she pried her jaws loose from Twilight’s neck, blood flying everywhere.

“There, see?” Trixie said sweetly. “Was that so bad, Twilight?”

Twilight said there motionless.

“Oh yeah, I forget. There’s so many weird rules about this kind of thing.” Trixie rolled her eyes. She leaned in close and whispered. “Rise.”

Twilight snapped to life, inhaling sharply out of habit. She looked over to Trixie.

“What do you say, Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie asked. “Ready to be a team player?”

“I ...” Twilight stammered. Her eye twitched. She was trying to resist. For a moment, Trixie thought she might pull it off.

Then Twilight raised her hands into the air. “I crave the taste of blood!”

More of the wicked laughter Twilight heard before.

“Excellent, excellently done!” a woman – the vampire Trixie met in the closet appeared from the smoke, standing tall and proud and clapping her hands. “Wonderfully done, Trixie, wonderfully done. I had my doubts about you when you first stepped into my house, but you’ve quashed them all quite thoroughly. That was a magnificent display, Trixie. And that ‘I’m getting impatient’ code phrase? A brilliant masterstroke.”

“You flatter me, mistress,” Trixie said with a bow.

The vampire threw her arms around Twilight and Trixie’s shoulders. “Let’s get inside before my smoke disappears and we’re exposed to the sun.” She walked them to the entrance of her mansion. “Now, I want you to tell me all about you two. Every single thing, every little detail.” She looked at Twilight with interest. “I don’t get out much, but I get out enough to heart that this one opened portals to another dimension. I am just so very curious about that.”

“We’ll tell you everything, mistress,” Twilight said. She dabbed at her chin. “And then after that, we’ll have the others join us soon, won’t we?”
“Oh yes, my dear,” the mistress said, “very soon.”

Author's Note

It's a good thing I just happened to be reading Salem's Lot when the commissioner asked about doing a vampire story for Spooky Month.

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