Something Sweet to Bite: A New Generation

"And the laughter unending echoes through the haunted house" -Roky Erickson

Lights flickered on and off at random at the control station as the Unicorn busied herself, pushing buttons and pulling levers. In front of the mare several monitors displayed different rooms, each showing one or two ponies laughing or screaming as they passed through them, although they did so soundlessly as there was no audio feed. Each of the rooms had their own 'gimmick'. For example, every now and then 'ghosts' would fall from the ceiling or a framed portrait's eyes would glow and follow the ponies as they walked down a spooky corridor. There was a 'bone room' where skeletal ponies were rigged to pop out, some from the ceiling and others from trick doors in the hallway, set to give a little jump-scare to those who passed within range. There were even trained Pegamice that would swoop down and startle anypony who came near their roost, although they would sometimes draw giggles instead of screams, the desired effect of 'surprise' and more importantly 'distraction' was still achieved. The Pegamice had been a short notice substitution since Misty couldn't find any bats to do the job, but honestly the winged mice had been easier to train.

Misty had originally thrown up this Haunted House as a means to attract Sunny and her friends, and more importantly their pet dragon Sparky, and it had proved to be a surprising success. In fact it was a little too successful, which was to say it had attracted her prey just fine but had also seemingly drawn half the population of Maretime Bay! Now, instead of serving as the perfect trap for Misty to at last acquire dragon fire for Opaline, the haunted attraction was the perfect Nightmare Night destination for a whole host of ponies that Misty had no idea what to do with! This was in large part thanks to Pipp Petal's live-streaming her and her friends trip through the spooky mansion and telling all her followers how '#spooktacular' it had been. Now there was a positive flood of ponies moving slowly through a space originally designed only for about six or seven ponies to go through at once. Sweat poured down Misty's forehead as the blue Unicorn huffed and wheezed, working herself to the bone as she quickly darted from one set of controls to the other trying to keep up with the procession of ponies going through 'Misty's Jump-Scare Emporium'.

"Ooh, what have I done!" Misty moaned to herself. She didn't want to blow her cover as Opaline's assistant, but at the same time running a Haunted House wasn't getting her any closer to fulfilling her mistress's wishes for her to capture Sparky! "How many more ponies could possibly want to do this? And how much longer am I going to have to keep this up!? Wait a minute, haven't those three little fillies already gone through twice!? And they're going through again! Urgh, I'm going to be at this until dawn at this rate!"

Just then, the locket on the chain around Misty's neck began to vibrate and glow. A sinister looking eye opened and smoke poured forth from the enchanted object. From the billowing vapors there next came a loud and stern voice shouting "Misty!" then the image of a looming magenta Alicorn with teal eye shadow and a twin-drill mane-style took hazy form from the fumes. "Why are you still in this pathetic 'Spook-House'? Why have you not returned!?" she demanded to know.

"A thousand apologies mistress," begged Misty pathetically, though she did so without breaking her concentration on running the switchboard or taking her eyes off the monitors. "But I've still got all of these ponies here that came for the attraction. I'm afraid if I just shut it down without any explanation then they'll get suspicious about why it was even here. I don't want them to have any chance of figuring out that it was all just a ruse."

"Are there really that many oafs queuing up for your little spookarama? Ugh, Equestria has really gone down hill. Must I think of everything for you Misty? No wonder you haven't gotten your cutie mark yet," complained Opaline. "Simply devise some excuse for why the attraction must be closed early. Tell them there has been a malfunction, or that the ridiculous excuse for a sheriff determined that the equipment creates a fire hazard or something!"

Misty at last turned from the console to address Opaline directly, "Wouldn't that be something that the Fire Marshal would have to determine?" she asked quizzically, "I don't mean to second guess you, but I don't think we want anypony coming out and inspecting things. Then they might find out I don't even have a licences to operate this attraction. Then, even if I'm lucky enough to avoid getting arrested, there will be a court summons and I'll have to appear before the magistrate. I'd need to hire a lawyer, and then there's the whole matter of legal fees, even if we don't try to fight it - And if we do fight it, I don't think we'll have a hoof to stand on."

"Misty, focus!" cried Opaline, losing patience with her protege, "None of that will matter once I've got that little dragon in my power and I can use its dragon fire to recharge my Fire Alicorn magic! As long as you do your job you needn't worry about what passes for the local 'authorities' or their insipid laws. I will be the law!"

As the Alicorn projection and her pony minion continued to argue about the advisedness of disregarding the potential scrutiny of the local government, something strange began to happen on the monitors behind them. Guests continued to pass through the rooms even though there were no more spooks or jump-scares, and many of them wore looks of disappointment on their face, but there was one who entered the haunt that was all smiles. Grinning from ear to ear with a rictus so wide it threatened to split the top of her head off, this smiling stranger moved deceptively quickly through the no longer haunted halls. Although she never appeared to move at more than a walking pace she still appeared immediately in the next monitor once she disappeared from the one prior, as if she had teleported once she was off screen.

As her toothy grin and glowing eyes passed through the dark, ponies began to laugh a little nervously while others screamed thinking she was part of the attraction, though this all still passed in total silence since the monitors didn't have sound. Then the feeds began to fizzle in and out, fading to snow and looping, or zooming in incredibly close before zooming out again. Things were growing stranger by the moment as the smiling mare now appeared on multiple monitors at once, although the other guests were not similarly duplicated. That wasn't the end of the oddity, however, as the leering pony began to shift and change into strange amorphous forms that twisted into horrifying new shapes that lunged without warning at the horrified patrons.

Within moments all was chaos.

On one monitor a stallion was desperately clawing at the floorboards with his hooves as he was being dragged backwards and off screen to some unknown fate. A different display showed an extreme close up of an eye before it pulled back to reveal that the orb was no longer in the head that it belonged to, the nerve ending thrashing slightly as vitreous fluid slowly drained from it onto the floor before it was stomped to mush by the hooves of a little one-eyed filly fleeing for her life! An ax flashed across one display while a mace flew through another, an entire armory of weapons both modern and medieval unleashed from a dozen different angles. Likewise huge shark tooth filled maws and massive ripping claws raked through the dangling fake spiderwebs and ghosts, hundreds of needle sharp points exploding through the plastic skeletons and the pony's bodies caught between them. A wild beast seemed to dart across the ceiling on one monitor while a massive scythe swept through the length of a different corridor bisecting everything in its path. Flailing tendrils grasped at the limbs of running ponies and plucked them out of frame, only to slither back with their detached limbs waving about like freshly snatch prizes to spurt a crimson mist that splashed over everything.

In all these strange and horrific scenes it should be noted that each out of place object seemed to be made entirely out of candy; Every creature, weapon, and claw was a craft of confection, but no less deadly for their sweet composition! It was almost as if some twisted cross between artisan and chef had decided to unveil a particularly avant garde art gallery of violent treats in the middle of the haunt! The most outlandish thing to flash up on the monitors would have to have been a chainsaw made entirely out of sweets, the 'teeth' of which were formed from candy corn colored fangs that whirred silently across the blade as it was brought to bare on the face of a particularly unlucky colt in a wheelchair. As the revolving chain of fangs came down, it sent a spray of crimson up to splash across the camera lens and cause the screen to temporarily go dark red before fizzling completely out. One by one each of the monitors suffered a similar fate, the broadcast of carnage ending in a blank black screen.

Then, miraculously, the monitors all came back on at once and resumed their usual feed.

There was not a single pony remaining inside the attraction, not even the grinning stranger that had been the catalyst for the prior series of uncanny events. Although... It couldn't be said that the images being transmitted to the control room had not been completely unaltered.

The changes were subtle but made the once almost friendly haunted house seem far more grim. Now the skeletons had suddenly multiplied in the bone room, the new additions not the gleaming white of the originals but instead rather gooey and caked with dripping gore. These were far more grizzly and gruesome, and seemed to be dangle from the ceiling by loops of intestine or tattered skins rather than the thin wire the others hung from. Even more peculiar, the flesh and bones seemed to have been gnawed on, as teeth marks ran up and down the new ivory arrivals.

Likewise, the sheets of the fake ghosts had been washed completely scarlet, their torn and soaked cloth now drizzled a steady rain of scarlet into a similarly colored pool that had completely covered the floor like a shallow pond. The portraits frames here were either broken, slashed, or hung crooked as if something had smashed into them with great force. The glowing 'eyes' now flickered on and off haphazardly, sparks occasionally popping from shredded wiring. Only the poor Pegamice remained unscathed, although they huddled together shivering in the highest rafters packed tightly into a nook as high as they could get. It was clear that whatever it had been that stalked the halls below, the winged rodents wanted no part of it.

Both Misty and Opaline seemed oblivious to these changes, as they continued each to try to convince the other of why they either should or should not immediately abandon the haunted house. In fact, they were so engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice when the leering image of the smiling stranger suddenly appeared in the corner of one glowing monitor again. He pink and blue eyes swirled with fresh madness as she drew closer and closer, her image growing larger and spreading across every single monitor as if she were actually coming towards Misty through the flickering screens!

With the stranger's image blown up in such huge relief against the backdrop of the monitors it was easy to tell that this mare was also, like the various weapons and monsters that had swarmed through the corridors, made entirely of candy from the tip of her ears down to her hooves. Her lollipop eyes peered out from beneath a nest of black and red licorice hair. Her rosy cheeks were peppermints on either side of that ever razor sharp candy corn grin that had moved so swiftly through the halls. Even the long black and orange striped tongue, which slithered out of her mouth to leave a sticky green trail across the other side of the screens, seemed to be made of some stretchy gum or taffy. For those who knew how to recognize her, there was no mistaking this pony for anyone other than the Candy Mare.

Then, just as suddenly as she appeared, everything went dark - not just the monitors this time but the entire control console and every light in the place. All was as dark and quiet as a tomb. The loss of the hum of machinery left a rather unsettling vacuum of sound that every creak, scrape, and groan of the old mansion came flooding in to fill.

"Aha! A power outage! A perfect excuse to close up shop Misty!" exclaimed Opaline, proudly. "I'm so glad I thought of it. Now you can finally stop your dawdling and return home!"

"Uh, yes Opaline. Of course Opaline," assured Misty, saluting. "Right away Opaline."

As the image of the Alicorn queen faded and the 'eye' of the magic locket closed, Misty found herself suddenly alone in the dark and a primal terror squeezed her heart, making it difficult to breathe. Her horn sparkled to life, creating a rainbow glow that just barely illuminated the now suddenly cavernous feeling control room. It wasn't so much that she was afraid of the dark, nor even of being alone. Mistress Opaline's moods often meant that the Unicorn would have to keep her own company in the gloomy castle that she called home, but there was something about being by oneself in an unfamiliar setting that just felt extra unnerving.

What had happened? Everything had been going smoothly without a hitch up until now. Misty knew that she had plugged into the power grid correctly and that the equipment she was using was in good condition. Was there a blown fuse or a bad connection or something? Misty knew she had promised Opaline that she would report back soon, but she had better do one last sweep of the attraction just to make sure that there were no remaining patrons trapped inside.

Trapped... That was it, that was the feeling that had descended on Misty in the few moments after Opaline's image had vanished. She had felt like a wild animal suddenly caught in a trap. What a peculiar reaction. It wasn't like there was anything dangerous about the old rundown manor Misty had 'borrowed' for her deception. The Unicorn tried her best to shrug off the sensation and instead focused on what she ought to do next.

The door to the control room opened with a long, low creak that sent a shiver down Misty's spine, even though she was the one making the sound It was little details like that which had led Misty to select this particular abandoned home for her Nightmare Night attraction in the first place, but now that she was experiencing it all alone in the dark she was less than thrilled about her choice. Why hadn't she just set up some goofy little corn maze or a walk through dungeon in a well lit apartment complex? No, she had to go for authenticity!

"Hello?" Misty called without leaving the relative safety of the control room just yet. "Is anypony out there? We seem to be experiencing some, er... Technical difficulties. If you could please make your way to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion, we'll be suspending operations for the rest of the evening... That is, if that's okay with all of you?"

The velvet gloom swallowed her words. She waited, listening, just in case there was any sort of response. In the distance she thought she heard a giggle, but something that creepy was probably just her imagination working overtime - Right With some difficulty Misty choked down the apprehension that rose like bile at the back of her throat and, with an audible gulp to swallow down those emotions, she tentatively trotted into the dark.

The multi-colored glow from the Unicorn's horn did barely more then give sharper definition to the shadows around her, leaving Misty with only a few inches of visibility to work with as she slowly crept through the silent hallway. It was amazing how in the short interim since she had last entered the control room to now ,when she had re-emerged into the house proper, that the mansion had taken on such a far more sinister aspect. Was it just the dark, or had a seemingly malevolent change truly come over the uninhabited abode? The difference was much more so than a few fake cobwebs and a little darkness could casually explain. It was almost as if there were someone, or something, waiting out of sight around every corner. But that was silly - if there was really something here that intended her harm why wouldn't it just... Just strike her and get it over with?

Misty was beginning to feel uncomfortably like she would on those occasions when she would unwittingly draw Opaline's ire. Without any way of truly knowing what she had done wrong she would have to fumble about and guess not just what her mistake had been but also how severely Opaline intended to punish her. The worst part was she wouldn't always punish her, either, until long after she had forgotten she was in trouble to begin with. All too often the Misty would spend hours curled up into a ball of mental anguish only for her mistress's apparent displeasure to evaporate as if it had never been. Whether she received a punishment or a reprieve, the anxiety that tied her stomach in knots all day up until that point had often been far worse than whatever consequences she received. If something bad was going to happen to Misty she would rather it just happen so she could deal with it and move on.

As that thought drifted across the young mare's mind her hooves suddenly squelched stickily into a pool of something cold and wet that, from the feel of it, was not water. The level of light from her horn too low for her to see much of anything even had she glanced down, but even so she instead chose decisively to keep her eyes riveted straight ahead. She was entirely unwilling to see what it was exactly that she was walking through, as she was certain it would do nothing to help her maintain her composure. Better to ignore it, stay calm, and quickly move on than draw attention to herself.

Something that was harder to ignore was the smell that now assaulted her nostrils. It was like a revolting mix of copper, hot garbage, and rotting fish. Either somepony had a very embarrassing reaction to one of the attractions jump-scares, or maybe Misty had finally just stumbled onto the reason why the run down home had been abandoned in the first place. Perhaps there was an overflowing septic tank on the premises? That was better than the alternatives that now raced unbidden through Misty's mind. Either way, the halls reeked of something almost supernaturally foul that left the young mare struggling to suppress a gag.

The aroma only blossomed and worsened once she started to pass through the bone room. Misty tried to pretend not to notice the shiny new additions to the skeletons she had bought in surplus. Though a part of her knew she was in denial, she managed to convince herself that she had simply miscounted them before. Surely since she had set everything up in something of a rush such a mistake would be easy to make. Although, credulity could only be stretched so far when she found herself having to squeeze through a narrow gap between two of the skeletons she had 'miscounted' only for their slick and slightly warm bones to rub along her flanks and send shivers down her spine, giving her goose flesh, and leaving dark stains on her fur.

After that Misty quickened her step so that she was passing through the hall of now broken portraits at a trot. Somepony must have panicked and accidentally bumped into the pictures in the dark she told herself, Very hard... over and over again. A fresh chill passed down Misty's spine as she noticed that there were scraps of fur clinging to the shattered picture frames. Against her better judgement she took a closer look and noticed that there were also now a few teeth embedded in the splintered wood, their cracked and bloody roots poking out of the frame like a hidden prize for a particularly demented tooth fairy or a less than scrupulous dentist. Misty very much wished that she hadn't seen that.

"I-if anypony is s-still in here, we are now v-very much closed!" The Unicorn stammered, backing quickly away from her grizzly discovery as if she were trying to distance herself from the very thought of the violence that they hinted at. "I-if you can s-still here me, please follow the sound of my voice and I'll lead you to the exit!"

Once again her words seemed to simply vanish into the abyss, not even so much as an echo coming back to her in reply. Except...Just on the edge of her hearing... A muffled giggle came from uncomfortably nearby. Misty whirled in the direction of the sound and brightened the sparkle of her horn, but all she managed to reveal was more signs of carnage that she was certain hadn't been there earlier in the evening. Calm as she had been able to remain up until this point, Misty was rapidly losing her nerve.

"I'm not trapped, I'm not trapped, I'm not trapped," she muttered to herself over and over, failing to reassure herself. "I know exactly where the exit is! I can leave whenever I want! I am not trapped!"

Maybe it would be a good idea to get to the exit sooner rather than later? After all, Mistress Opaline would surely prefer if she hurried along. Besides, there was clearly no pony left inside the manor.

No pony alive, anyways.

Abandoning any pretense of calm, Misty broke into a run.

The house was far too quiet and the darkness was absolutely pregnant with barely concealed malice. It might have just been her nerves getting to her, but Misty needed to get out as soon as possible! Unfortunately, the Unicorn lost her footing as she skidded around a corner and into the room of hanging ghosts. She went head over hooves as her trotters skidded through the sticky liquid that had filled the corridor. She spun around, leaving a squelching trail through the gelatinous sludge, and in her attempt to right herself only added further to her momentum as she ended up tumbling flank first through the front doors.

Misty lay sprawled on the ground outside under the night sky, her heart thundering in her chest like a stampede of bunnycorns. The young mare had never been so happy, or relieved, to be lying flat in the dirt in her life!

She'd made it out!

Although her head was spinning and her vision was swimming, the mere act of exiting the building was absolutely elating! It felt like an amazing triumph for some reason. Misty lay still for a little longer, panting with both relief and exertion. Between grateful gulps of cool night air she gasped "Wow! I really need - to remember - if I do one of these - again - that haunted houses are a lot scarier - when they're pitch black!"

After she said this, the double doors she had just crashed through suddenly slammed shut. Had the wind blown them closed? Or had there been somepony else inside after all? Confused and still a little shaken, Misty was torn between investigating further and just pretending she hadn't noticed. Surely she should just leave and get on with the rest of her night, right?

Before Misty could decide, the doors creaked open ever so slightly. This time the mare distinctly heard the sound of a little filly laughing. It was so out of place it made her fur go rigid down her back. But if there was some pony still inside, it was probably a good idea to make sure they got out safely, even if they had been messing with her and playing silly games when she had been trying to lead them to the exit.

"Is somepony there?" Misty called, rising to her hooves and slowly edging towards the slightly ajar doors. The light of the full moon did nothing to illuminate the darkness beying the small crack through which Misty peered, so that if there was somepony standing even mere inches behind those doors then there was no way Misty could tell just by looking. Even so the sense of menace seemed to have dissipated now that Misty was outside, which only caused her curiosity to increase. As she pondered the merits of opening the doors the rest of the way and taking one last look around inside, something bounced out of the gloom and rolled to a stop between Misty's hooves,"What's this?"

With an arc of her eyebrows, the aura of Misty's magic lifted the small object up so she could see it better in the moonlight. It was a completely unremarkable, yet oddly compelling piece of candy.

The young mare felt her tummy rumble a low growl. She hadn't even seen a morsel of food since she had been at the party at Mane Melody earlier in the night. At that time she had been too busy trying to blend in to snag a bite, though there had been refreshments aplenty. Most of which, Misty guiltily had to admit to herself, she had ruined in the attempt to get the party guests to display their magic for Opaline to observe. The Unicorn realized that now that panic was no longer filling the pit of her stomach she was actually quite ravenous, having skipped her supper to carry out her mistress's mission.

It was just a little candy, so innocent and pure, surely even Opaline wouldn't hold it against Misty if she had a bit of a snack? It was Nightmare Night, after all. Everypony else would be stuffing themselves sick with treats... Why shouldn't Misty have a little taste of the sweeter side of life? There was a crinkle of paper, followed by the sound of chewing, and a delighted moan as sugar melted over a grateful tongue.

It took the Candy Mare all of her self control to keep her gob clamped shut, her blood-stained hooves physically holding her muzzle closed so that she wouldn't explode with laughter as she watched Misty through the crack in the door. Mere inches away as the ghoulish mare was, she'd completely give herself away if she so much as let a single tittle of a titter slip past her lips. As the Unicorn at last walked away, masticating joyfully, the Candy Mare let loose a high pitched cackle as she rolled back and forth on the bloody floorboards as if she had just witnessed the most hilarious, side-splitting thing.

As Misty was engulfed by the bank of fog that lay between her and the long trek home she did not seem to notice the laughter at all, instead merely cantering carefree into the night, just one more mare swallowed by the mist.