This story will be written as a mix of journal entries and a normal narrative style of story. This is my first attempt at a horror story so constructive criticism is welcome. Happy Halloween!

Tap, Tap, Tap

by Origami

Journal Entry 10/1/1005 ANB (After Nightmare Banishment)

I finally have a new house! Getting out of that tiny apartment is such a relief! It's a pretty big house for me, but since I'm a writer, I'll be spending plenty of time at home tapping away on my new typewriter! I'm so excited I can't stop using exclamation marks!

Okay, I'm calming down now.

It's about two in the afternoon, and I just finished unpacking the things for my office. The room I'm using for an office must've been a study at some point because there were plenty of bookshelves in it. I don't even have enough books to fill them all up!

They left an oak desk which works perfectly for my typewriter and quill set. A lot of books are gonna be written on this thing!

Of course, writing books isn't the best source of income, especially with my mortgage. Fortunately, this quaint little hamlet I find myself living in is in need of a notary, and it just so happens I have all the necessary training for the job.

In fact, I need to get going so I can meet the mayor of the town. That is something I will need to get used to. Unlike all the other towns I lived in, this one is being run by a stallion, so we'll get to see what that's like for a change.

Journal Entry 10/2/1005 ANB

I was woken up last night by a noise from downstairs. I forgot to mention that my new house has four floors. The ground floor has the kitchen, parlor,study(aka my office), a half-bathroom(just a toilet and sink), and a washroom. The second has two bedrooms and a storage room, as well as a full bathroom. The third floor is an attic with plenty of storage space. Finally, there's the basement, home of the furnace keeping the house warm in the winter time.

Unfortunately, the basement was the source of my problems.

I got off topic. I didn't even mention the noise that woke me up.

Tap, tap, tap

Just like that. It literally sounds like somepony tapping their hoof against a window. I walked around the house in search of somepony tapping against my windows, but found no one. I even inspected the attic, thinking a pegasus or thestral was playing a prank on me. Alas, no such luck.

When I went to my basement, I heard the tapping again, but this time I could tell it was coming from a back room down there. Opening up the door, I looked to see a room with nothing in it. Confused, I looked around and found nothing but dust and a drain for water getting in the basement to drain out. The only hint that there might've ever been a window down here was some newer brickwork on one side of the wall, but even that looked years old.

I gave up and went back to bed. I didn't hear the noise for the rest of the night.

Journal Entry 10/3/1005 ANB

I heard the noise again. Getting up and checking all the windows again, I found nothing. Entering the basement once more, I again found nothing. I'm gonna have to ask the realtor about this. If there's something wrong with the house, I'm gonna need a contractor pony to come in and fix it.

Journal Entry 10/7/1005 ANB (Writing is barely legible)

I'm having a hard time keeping my composure as I write this. The contractor came and examined the house and found nothing! No shaky pipes or anything. I paid for the consultation and he left. About an hour after he left and I was getting ready to start working, I heard the tapping again. This time, it didn't come from the basement.

-#####################-

Tap, tap, tap

I flinched as I heard that noise again. After having heard it for the past several nights, it had gotten on my last nerve. Whoever this was doing this was going to be punished for it, either by the guards in town hauling them in for harassment or me just simply knocking their lights out for them, they were gonna get it!

I head up the stairs, taking notice that it was suddenly getting darker outside.

"Strange," I say to myself, "the weather ponies didn't call for a storm today."

Tap, tap, tap

The noise that was quickly becoming a bane to my existence got my attention and I made my way upstairs again. Walking down the hallway that wrapped around the bedrooms, I spot one of the windows being slightly open.

"I did not leave that open" I realize as I move to go close it. As soon as I walk up to it, I freeze.

Staring back at me is a pony. Well, staring back is probably the wrong word to use. It's a pony shape, but it's so dark I don't make out any details. I flinch back for a second but see that the shadow flinches back as well, a direct mimic of my movements. I test it by raising a hoof and waving it, which the reflection copies without fail.

"Okay," I say with a sigh of relief, "It's just my reflection against the window."

My relief lasts for two seconds as the shadow suddenly bolts from the window to my right and I hear a door slam hard!

-#####################-

It's been a couple of hours since that happened and I have still yet to fully calm down. I don't know what to think about this. Is there a unicorn playing a prank on me? Is there a changeling about to take me and is just tormenting me for its own amusement?

Or is this a real haunted house?

I hope it's just a unicorn playing a joke that I can eventually sock in the jaw. I'm not even sure how I'm gonna get to sleep tonight.

Journal Entry 10/10/1005 ANB

I've now taken up near permanent residence in my study. It's the only place that feels remotely safe in this house anymore. The tapping I hear becomes more incessant, and even comes from within the room at times.

I've asked some ponies around the town if they know anything about the property, but all anypony can tell me is that it belonged to some crazy old noble that had no kids or immediate family that anypony could reach. The only part that caused me some alarm was the fact that the old noble disappeared and was presumed dead after having been gone for nearly a decade.

Did he die and his spirit haunts the house? Could I get a shamare or a clairvoyant pony to help the spirit move on?

Journal Entry 10/13/1005

I bit the bullet and called for a shamaness. She was a zebra named Kisafishaji, which I'm told means cleanser in the zebra tongue. I saw her come walking up my pathway, and then freeze. The look on her face was nothing but pure terror.

Concerned, I ran out to address her. She looked at me for a moment and shook her head.

"This house have much dark energy" she told me with a heavy accent in her voice. "Great evil has been done here. I cannot cleanse this place alone. I must get other shamaness to assist me."

She then looked me dead in the eyes and told me to stay out of the house until she could get more shamanesses to assist her.

I was ready to agree, but there was no room in any other house in town for me to stay. The only way I could get away with it without being called crazy would be to claim I was getting fumigation done, but that would be a hard sell to be honest, as the house had been fumigated before it went on the market. Without any camping gear or an out-building to stay in, I had no choice but to resume occupancy in my study/office.

Journal Entry 10/14/1005 ANB(Writing is barely legible)

The shadow came back again. I was in my bathroom in the downstairs trying to go quickly when I heard the tapping again. I grew dreadful and tried to plant my hooves into the ground, but a compulsion forced me to follow the sound. It took me to the upstairs bathroom.

-#####################-

I came back up the steps and followed the sound of tapping on glass to my bathroom. I opened the door and looked inside to find nothing but my bathroom. I checked around, looking inside the shower, the towel closet, and even opening up the medicine cabinet to find the basic amenities of supplies for cleaning and bandaging wounds and the odd medicine such as aspirin and bismuth solution.

I closed the cabinet door and was suddenly face to face with the shadow pony. Before I could even react, the pony cocked a hoof back and punched me straight through the mirror. I whipped my head back in pain and fell back against the tile floor holding my muzzle.

When the pain finally receded, I looked around for the shadow pony, but immediately froze.

There was something hanging in my shower now. I saw a motion and heard the tapping again, this time directly against the shower door.

I wanted nothing more than to tuck tail between my legs and run, but again the compulsion I couldn't resist overcame me. I found myself standing up and walking over to the shower, and with a timid hoof, I slid the shower door open.

A mare, just barely out of fillyhood.

A mare was in my shower, hanging from a rope, her eyes seeming to scream out in desperation, but glassed over from the lack of life in them or the body.

A dead mare was hanging in my shower.

As soon as the situation registered properly in my mind, I screamed and booked it out of the house. I went straight to the guard and reported what I had seen.

-#####################-

I got a pair of guards and they followed me back, but there was no body in the shower. I tried finding any sign that there had been a body at all, but there was none. Of course, the guards were suspicious of my claims and decided to dismiss it as just a bad dream that Princess Luna was unable to catch and dispel.

I dared to ask them if there was ever a crime reported in the house, but they told me that they would have to look into that, but I was welcome to come to the guard house tomorrow if I wanted.

That was too good of an offer to pass up.

Journal Entry 10/17/1005 ANB

The guard never got back to me, so I went to them today and asked again about crimes that took place at my house. While there wasn't a specific crime per se, they did tell me that there had been a suicide in the house. Unsurprisingly, it had been a young mare that was just barely that. As they described her, I went white as I realized that she was the one I saw in the shower.

Was it her spirit haunting the house?

I returned home and was greeted with yet another very unpleasant surprise.

-#####################-

I enter my study and close the door, locking it as I have gotten into the habit of doing.

After I do so, I turn and I look at my desk to find an envelope on it.

"Mailponies don't deliver mail inside the house" I realize, and I feel fear creeping up my spine again. Tentatively, I reach for the envelope and examine it.

There is only a single name on the envelope - Hearth. If I'm remembering correctly, the noble who owned the house was named Hearth. Curious, I open the envelope and read the letter contained within it.

Hearth,

I know about the filly. You sick, two-timing bastard!

You are going to pay for this! I'll have my lawyers take you for all you're worth and I'll burn that damn house you love so much to the dirt!

After everything we've shared, you go and do this to me?!

You'll burn for this!

I didn't know who Hearth was, but by the sound of this letter, he had been caught dipping his hoof in a cookie jar that didn't belong to his beloved.

As I read the letter again, I came to realize the the mare I saw in my shower might not have committed suicide, but was murdered by whoever wrote this note, or even by Hearth as some twisted way to show the pony who wrote this letter that he regretted his actions and intended to stay faithful to them.

I look back down and I see a second envelope that wasn't there before. However, this one has a scent to it, which I quickly identify as perfume. Picking it up, I open and read the contents of this letter.

Hearth,

I know about the other mare. I also know you were with her before me. I met her when I came to get my scarf. She was screaming at me about what a harlot I am and that I should be ashamed of myself.

Funny thing is, she stopped berating me after a few moments and a look of horror crossed her face. She ran to a room and locked herself in. She's been wailing for a long time now.

I can't believe you would cheat on your wife with another mare! Worse yet, I can't believe I'm the one you did it with!

Our "affair" is over. I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Don't try to find me. All that will be there is a closed door.

Gypsum

After reading that letter, I know now that the mare, named Gypsum, was murdered for being a source of Hearth's infidelity, but the question is...

...did Hearth kill her, or did his wife do it?

-#####################-

I asked the mayor about the noble who owned the house again and got no new answers. I think I'm going to spend a few days in Canterlot searching for his names in the geneology department of the Canterlot Archives. They're bound to have something on him, and possibly if he had a wife.

Journal Entry 10/24/1005 ANB

I sit here drinking alcohol until I can't stay conscious anymore. I returned from spending the past several days in Canterlot looking up the noble that owned this house before I bought it. I wished that I hadn't.

According to the records, Hearth, whose full name is Ember Hearth, was a noble son of a high ranking guard that was a popular candidate to become captain of the guard. Additional notes claimed that Hearth was a skilled unicorn mage and was believed to be on the track to having a successful career as a mage in the guard.

However, that dream died quickly upon some horrible secrets being revealed.

First, it was discovered that he owned tomes that were considered banned in Equestria. More specifically, they were books on necromancy and soulmancy, and he had apparently been studying them as loose papers with his own notes were found within the pages.

Possibly worse than that was the secret that forced him out of Canterlot, and one of the most heinous things a pony can do: he had committed incest.

His partner in this act, a cousin named Ruby Slipper, became pregnant with a filly, whom she had and attempted to raise.

With the revelation of his crime, the nobles moved to have him ousted from Canterlot, which Princess Celestia readily agreed to.

As part of a deal to avoid more serious punishment, Hearth was not to have any contact with Ruby Slipper or her child, and was to leave Canterlot immediately and without incident, surrendering all his possessions, including the restricted tomes. In exchange, he would maintain a portion of his assets so that he could find a home in one of the smaller towns furthest away from Canterlot.

After that, there was nothing else on him, so I had to investigate Ruby Slipper, and that was where I found the answers that I both wanted and didn't want at the same time.

-#####################-

I read through the files on Ruby Slipper, taking note of how she was sent away to live with relatives of the nobles who she was related to; apparently, she was a child of an illegitimate relation between the son of another noble in the royal guard and a scullery maid.

The son took on the maid as his wife, against his father's wishes. The father, however, was having affairs with several other members of his staff, and the son blackmailed him for his approval of the union. Ruby had been born some time after their wedding.

Ruby had apparently met Hearth sometime after getting her cutie mark, and the two carried on a relationship that was not appropriate for two ponies that were related. This was found out, of course, when Ruby was found pregnant with a foal.

After Hearth was effectively banished from Canterlot, Ruby was sent to live with the relatives on her mother's side of the family. Unfortunately, she couldn't care for the foal herself, and had to give it up for adoption.

As I found the adoption papers, my blood went ice cold. The filly hadn't had a name at that time Ruby gave her up, so the adopting parents decided to give her one:

Gypsum Sparkle.

My stomach demanded that it be emptied upon hearing that news

This... perverted bastard... had slept with his own daughter.

-#####################-

I had to find a waste basket to hurl in. Finding out such horrible secrets was bad enough, but to learn of something so sick and perverted as that?

I forced myself back to the table once I was done. I returned to Ruby's information to see if there was anything else there, which gave me another bombshell.

Ruby Slipper disappeared twenty years ago, and hasn't been heard from since.

I was able to find a photograph of her, and she looked similar to Gypsum, but with a ruby red mane and blue coat; Gypsum was yellow with a mint green mane. Both, however, had ruby red eyes, an apparent trait passed down from mother to daughter.

With this information, I tried to formulate an answer as to what was happening in my house. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Journal Date 10/30/1005 ANB (Writing is barely legible)

I think I have figured out exactly what happened in this house now, and I'm rethinking ever having wanted to buy it.

Ember Hearth, the sick bastard that owned this house before me, had found Ruby Slipper and reunited with her in secret, but then had an affair with his own daughter, Gypsum Sparkle. Ruby found out and waited in the house to confront Hearth but encountered Gypsum. She verbally accosted the young mare but suddenly realized she was familiar and then figured out the mare was her daughter, and her husband's lover.

Gypsum wrote the note and attempted to leave but Hearth came home after she had wrote the letter. There was an altercation, and all the proverbial skeletons were dragged out of the closer. Ruby and Gypsum must've threatened to reveal his crimes to the princess in order to strip him of everything he had left, but Hearth would have none of it.

While I'm not sure how, I'm confident Hearth killed Gypsum and Ruby. He subdued both of them and staged Gypsum's hanging in the upstairs bathroom. Ruby likely perished as well, but with no body found, she was presumed missing.

Unfortunately, I think I know exactly where Ruby's body can be found.

October 31st, 1005 ANB

Kisafishaji returned with about five other shamanesses. They told me of the darkness in the house, and I told them what I had learned about Hearth and his despicable acts. Even the shamanesses had to fight back the urge to vomit upon my informing them of the wrongdoings that were carried out by the stallion that called this place home before me.

"This house must be cleansed before another can live here" Kisafishaji told me. "If we cannot, then it must be burned to the ground, and the ground must be burned as well!"

I didn't exactly want to burn my house down, but if it would end the torment I had endured for the past month, then so be it. I led the shamanesses inside and we went room to room as they conducted a cleansing ritual using herbs that I was unfamiliar with.

"We must now go upstairs" Kisafishaji said, and we headed to the staircase. As we did so, I couldn't help but have a feeling of dread crawling up my spine. Unfortunately, my fears became justified only a few moments later.

Upon going upstairs, one of the shamanesses was stricken with a feeling of malaise. When Kisafishaji asked her what was wrong, the shamaness explained the presence of dark magic, and was suddenly and violently thrown down the stairs, landing on her neck and snapping it like a twig.

The other shamanesses screamed as the ran to the now dead zebra laying at the bottom of the stairs, blood already spilling from her mouth.

Without warning, the front door slammed shut, and all the lights in the house went out. The shamanesses went to working lighting candles and incense in an effort to purify the immediate area.

A shadow pony appeared and took a burning incense and stuck it into a shamaness's mouth holding the muzzle shut as it burned her mouth, the mare smacking forehooves against it as her muted screaming could be heard by all.

"This darkness has too much strength!" Kisafishaji declared. "This house has too much darkness in it! It must be razed to the ground!"

The shamanesses agreed and ran for the door, one of them finally knocking the shadow pony away from the subdued shamaness, finally allowing her to spit the buring incense from her mouth and let out wails of agony.

I made to follow the mares outside, but the basement door suddenly burst open and I was pulled down into it, the door slamming shut behind me.

I fell down the stairs and onto the basement floor. I quickly got back to my hooves and made to go back up the stairs, but was stopped dead in my tracks.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs... was him.

Ember Hearth.

The stallion was older but still maintained a strong physique. He was dressed in an evening jacket that was practically tatters, a smoking pipe poking out of a barely attached pocket.

"Going so soon?" he said as he moved towards me. "After having learned of my secrets?"

I was terrified, but I did my best to stand my ground. "You bastard!" I yelled at him. "You slept with your own cousin, and then your own daughter?!"

Hearth let out a breath as he produced a kitchen knife from an old storage crate.

"I loved them both" he responded. "Maybe it wasn't what some would call appropriate, but it was love nonetheless."

"That's not love!" I spit back. "That's... debauchery of the worst kind!"

Hearth glares at me as he brandishes the knife.

"Such a wicked tongue on you" he says menacingly. "I think we should cut it out!"

He lunges at me with the blade. I dodge, but the blade still cuts a gash in my side. I cry out and push myself against the wall in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Hearth turns to face me, a look of rage on his face. "I had to do it!" he shouts at me. "If I hadn't, then those two would've went to the princess and took everything I had left. Why couldn't they see my love was enough for the both of them?!"

He lunges again, but this time I'm able to dodge it. However, my wounded side is exposed and Hearth quickly gives it a kick, causing me to cry out in pain and fall to the floor.

I roll quickly as I see the shadow of his body try to land on top of me, hearing the knife tip strike the floor and graze it. Back on my feet, I go on the offensive and kick him hard in the face. He reels back from the pain and I make for the now dropped knife.

Grasping it in my mouth, I look up to see Hearth has recovered and is now making to lunge for me.

It's over in a matter of seconds.

Hearth lands on top of me, and in turn, the knife. It goes into his barrel and straight through a lung. He tries to cry out in pain, but the sound dies in his throat. After a few moments, I feel him go slack on top of me. I push the stallion off of me and I stand up, taking stock of myself.

My coat is stained with both his blood and mine. My gash now has a considerable amount of dirt in it that will need to be washed out. Most likely, I will need to have antibiotics in addition to the stitches I'll be getting to fix my side.

I then look down at Hearth. He's no longer breathing and his eyes are shut. His mouth hangs open as blood is spilling out from it.

Dead.

I ignore his body as my mind replays the incident, and my earlier conclusion comes back to mind.

Ruby's body. It has to be here in the basement.

I look around and find a sledgehammer and pick ax. Taking both, I head back into the backroom of the basement and set my sights on the newer masonry work. Looking at it now, I realize that it's subpar in comparison to the rest.

I take the pick and strike in the middle of the brickwork, the tip sinking in far and dislodging a few bricks. Switching to the sledgehammer, I knock out several of the bricks and make short work of the hole covered by them. When I'm finished, I see a strange sight before me.

Inside the hole is a spike, and beneath it is a rose in a flower pot, with a letter in an envelope just beneath it. Ignoring the flower, I pick up the envelope and read the letter written inside.

Stallion,

I thank you for your efforts in freeing me from my prison. I can finally see the light for the first time in decades.

If you have found this, you have also dispatched of the pony that is the father of my foal. You have done a great service to Equestria, but I'm afraid you're not quite finished yet. If I were you, I'd duck out of the way right now.

I sit there in confusion for a moment before I hear hoofsteps running up behind me. Doing as the letter suggests, I duck down and roll as I hear a rage-filled scream that suddenly cuts short as I hear a sound similar to a ripe melon being skewered.

I look back up to see Hearth above me. This time, however, he is impaled on the spike, the tip having went straight through his heart. I look now to see his eyes going dim and glassing over, his body slumping as I see the life finally leaving it for good.

After this point, I hear a commotion from upstairs and the basement door is bucked open. The shamanesses and guard file into the basement and backroom to discover the scene before them.

Journal Entry November 5th, 1005 ANB

Ember Hearth was declared dead in the basement, his death caused by the trauma he received in our altercation, mostly from the massive spike through his heart. He was also posthumously charged with the deaths of Ruby, Gypsum and the shamaness who broke her neck. The other shamaness burnt her mouth so badly that she would be unable to eat solid food for months, as well as be unable to speak for a very long time, possibly never again.

The investigation into the home revealed that he'd been living in an unused room with his necessities hidden in a secret wall safe, and hidden in the attic under some floorboards, were books on necromancy and how to enslave souls. With a consultation from Kisafishaji, they determined that Ember Hearth had a soul bound to the house, and going from my description of the hanging mare, deduced it was Gypsum Sparkle. He had apparently enslaved her and fed power into her so she could do his bidding as a shadow pony. A ritual was held and her spirit was allowed to pass on. Unfortunately, Ruby's body wasn't in the basement, and I have no idea where it could possibly be.

I have decided to move and let the town have the house and property it sat on. A collection was held and a donation was given to me to help with my economic situation, since I had a mortgage on a home I no longer owned.

After discussing it over with the shamanesses, the mayor agreed to demolish it and build a much desired park at the site. On my insistence, it's dedicated to the memories of Ruby Slipper and Gypsum Sparkle. Both were victims of the same mistake: falling in love with a deviant. They shouldn't have to suffer in death the way they did in life.

I got in touch with Ruby's family and told them about what happened to her. They weren't particularly sad, since most had never knew her, but those who did were thankful for the closure. From what they told me, she was a good mare, even if she had made mistakes.

With their permission, I decided to write a book about the events. So as to protect Ruby's reputation, as well as Gypsum's memory, I changed their names. I also decided to change Ember Hearth's name so that his family was spared the embarrassment of his misdeeds.

I find myself in a new apartment in Manehattan, this one a new construction and one I'm getting with some assistance from the crown. If this new book does well, I'll be able to pay back both the mortgage and crown's loan.

-#####################-

Tap, tap, tap

I go white as I hear that sound again. I turn to the window to see an envelope sitting there. Standing up, I look at it and pick it up to read it.

On the outside is a simple word: Stallion.

I open up the contents to see a letter inside.

Thank you

Ruby and Gypsum

I look at the letter for a long time before I put it back down. I can't help but feel better after having seen the letter. As I see the late hour, I elect to drift off to sleep, hoping any tapping sound I hear will be nothing more than tree limbs against hitting against my window.

Author's Note

My first attempt at horror and written over the weekend. Please leave constructive criticism so I may do better if I write another horror story in the future.