The line for Sugarcube Corner’s haunted house stretched all the way around the block, and then some, as ponies, dressed in various costumes, excitedly chattered about the new decor, and the amount of effort Pinkie Pie had put into turning the lovely little shop into a hulking haunted factory, complete with rusting machinery, that towered above the other houses and buildings in Ponyville, aside from the library. In the line, near the front, Kace Chase and Sugar Belle sipped pumpkin milkshakes, beaming smiles at each other. They were both a bit tipsy, having each won a couple ciders at Sweet Apple Acres’ apple bobbing contest, and both were a little more giggly than they usually were. Kace was dressed up as a hockey referee, complete with a striped jersey, a visored helmet, a whistle strapped to his foreleg, and some boots that looked close enough to pass as ice skates. He pushed his helmet up a little and gave his marefriend a smooch on the cheek. Sugar Belle was dressed up as a pumpkin muffin, her purple mane hidden by a white hat she’d made up to look like a dollop of frosting, a flowy skirt hiding her hooves, and padding to make her rounder - though not a lot of padding was needed.
They stood and sipped and waited, finally nearing the front of the line, where Rarity stood, counting groups of ponies and sending them in ten at a time, dressed as a rather fashionable zombie. She was letting in groups of fifteen ponies at a time, closing the door behind them after they entered. Kace and Sugar tossed their empty cups into a conveniently placed bin and stepped up to the door, paying the fee of two Bits each. Rarity slipped the gold coins into a bag, and with a ghoulish flourish, opened the door for them. The pair stepped inside into a dark room, joined by a few others. Pinkie Pie stood before them, at least they thought it was Pinkie. She was covered in a flowing white sheet that covered her from mane to hoof, her eyes lost in dark holes cut in the sheet, a strangely subdued costume for the normally bombastic Pinkie. Silently, she pointed at a sign hanging behind her, stating the rules for the haunted house, which included not touching the ‘undead’ and also to not leave the marked path for any reason, as some of the equipment, while unpowered, was still dangerous and ‘might be actually haunted, for reals’. Kace, still a bit buzzing, decided that rule didn’t apply to him or Sugar, and once the next doors were opened, they waited for the others to go in so they could enter alone, slightly behind everypony. Sunnie Bun and Velvet Melody had told them all about the haunted attraction when they popped into the Blue Bee, and both had stressed it was geared more towards younger ponies, as well as being surprisingly short, so Kace and Sugar decided to get off the beaten path and see what they could see, and maybe find a private little spot where they wouldn’t be spotted. After all, Pinkie had gone so over the top with decorating, it would be a shame to let so much of it go to waste.
“We should’ve gotten some snacks to go with those milkshakes. I’m still pretty hungry.” Sugar said quietly, ducking her head under some cobwebs that looked too real to be decorations. The pathway they were on was dark, pipes and other bits of machinery hung overhead, splattered with rust, with various chains dangling down, winking jack-o-lanterns swaying gently under them.
“We’ll get some candy after this.” Kace assured her. “Heck, we may even find something to eat here. It’s Sugarcube Corner, after all.” She nodded, and they came across the first display, one of the narrow hall’s walls falling away to reveal a vignette with mannequins and other props. One mannequin was sitting in a dentist’s chair, its blank face painted with an expression of terror. Two other mannequins loomed over it, one with a comically large drill, the other with a hammer and chisel. A plaque hung from the chain that separated the walkway from the display, reading ‘Always Brush Your Teeth, Otherwise You’ll Have To Meet Doctor Yankum!’ Sugar giggled behind her hoof.
“Sunnie wasn’t kidding about it being geared towards younger ponies! Who even gets scared of the dentist anymore?” Kace shivered slightly, and his hoof touched the right side of his jaw, a painful memory making itself known. A puck had snuck up and under his helmet, breaking one of his back teeth, and he remembered sitting in a similar chair while a dentist stretched his jaw wider and wider to get a good look.
“Y-yeah.” He said, his smile a grimace, and guided Sugar onwards. They wandered slowly, letting the others get further ahead of them, while keeping in front of the next group, enjoying the atmosphere. Fog machines hissed at them from under grates, and prop skeletons rattled against iron bars, one giving Kace enough of a scare to make him yelp. Sugar laughed and laughed, while Kace turned decidedly red in the face. His embarrassment disappeared as they came across the next display, one of a mannequin about to be run over by a carriage painted to resemble Princess Celestia’s, titled ‘Always Look Both Ways, Unless You Want To Be A Pancake Pony!’. Kace saw what he was looking for; a door, partially hidden by props, but still visible. He glanced up and down the hallways, a useless gesture as both ends curved away from the display, making it impossible to see anypony coming, then hopped the small chain. He carefully made his way to the door, moving some props out of the way, and pushed it open to find a back room. He waved at Sugar to follow him, and she made her way over just as carefully, though her wide hips and poofy costume did knock some things astray. She fixed them with a flash of magic before slipping through the door ahead of Kace.
The door clicked shut behind them, and their eyes adjusted quickly to the low light. It was a storage room, of some sort, with musty boxes piled high in the corner, and a pair of flickering torches overhead cast shadows that danced at the corners of the room. They poked around for a moment, curious, before hearing the next group of ponies come and go, their voices and hoofsteps seemingly more muffled than they should have been, but neither Kace nor Sugar noticed, not at that moment. Kace had found a small, low couch, with his shins, and before he was able to get himself up, Sugar Belle flipped him onto his back, her hooves pinning his forelegs above his head. Her warm, soft belly, radiating heat, pressed against his own slightly pudgy midsection, and she kissed him, deep and slow.
“Guess we have the place to ourselves.” She said, smiling, her eyes glinting in the gloom. “Whatcha want to do?” Kace grinned, and he was about to respond when one of the piles of boxes on the other side of the room shifted slightly. He froze, confused, as it shifted again, then started to shake. Sugar turned to look as well, eyes wide, as the pile slowly toppled to the floor, scattering papers and props all over the floor. Behind where the pile stood was a slightly ajar red door, one that slowly closed itself with a click after the last papers fluttered to the floor. The two of them were frozen for a moment, staring at the door, and Kace felt a chill scythe through his body.
“Was that door always there?” Kace asked, mostly to himself, but Sugar shook her head.
“No, that was just a flat wall. I swear it was.” She said quietly. They got up off the couch, picking their way through the debris, to examine the door. It looked ordinary enough, but when Kace reached for the door knob, he felt another chill run through him, this time making him shudder. He pulled his hoof back, as if something was going to bite it off.
“Let’s get out of here.” He said, turning on his hoof and walking fast to the door they entered the room from, but when he tried to turn the knob, it didn’t move. “What?” He tried again, harder, but the knob didn’t budge. Sugar stepped beside him, and both her horn and the knob began to glow, but the glow quickly and suddenly faded, as if drained away by something. Sugar paled and she stepped back, her eyes getting wide.
“I, I can’t open it.” She said quietly. “It won’t let me.” Kace threw himself at the door, panic rising in his chest. He pounded on the door, hearing a group of ponies walking by.
“Hey! HEY! WE’RE STUCK IN HERE! HELP!” His wings propelled him upwards, and he turned and slammed his back hooves into the door, hard enough that both legs momentarily went numb from hoof to thigh, but the door didn’t so much as rattle. Sugar grabbed at him, and pulled him down, mostly to stop him from injuring himself, but also because she needed somepony to hold. The room seemed to close in around them, and Sugar found it hard to breath, Kace’s breaths coming ragged, and rapid. They stood together in the centre of the small room for what seemed like hours, until they heard the sound of hoofs approaching the door. They jumped forwards, elated. “Hey! HEYYYY! GET US OUTTA HERE!” Kace bellowed. The hoofsteps stopped just shy of the door, and somepony knocked twice. Kace pounded on the door in response, his face shining with joy. He lowered his hoof, and the pounding continued from the other side. He stepped back again as the pounding grew louder, and louder, sounding less and less like somepony trying to get them out, and more like something trying to get in. The door rattled in its frame, as the harsh scratching of claws joined the pounding. Sugar grabbed at Kace’s jersey with her teeth, her horn wrenching the red door open, her fear of what was trying to get in overriding her fear of this new door. She ran into the darkness, yanking Kace behind her, and as they crossed the threshold, the first door exploded off its hinges, slamming against the other wall with a BOOM. They tumbled into the dark, the red door closing with an authoritative click behind them.
For a moment, the blackness was overwhelming, and when Sugar tried to cast a light from her horn, she only managed a tiny glow that was immediately extinguished. They huddled together in the dark, shivering, unable to move until torches suddenly blazed to life along the walls, illuminating a long hallway, lined with plush red carpet, that ended in two doors. The red door behind them began to rattle and thump as whatever broke the first door down was still trying to get at them. Kace scrambled to his hooves, his wing pulling Sugar up and pushing her forwards. The carpet clutched at their hooves as they ran, and the hallway seemed to stretch out before them, getting longer and longer. The red door gave way with a crunnch, and whatever was chasing them swept into the hallway, invisible in the darkness, torches winking out as it passed. Kace glanced over his shoulder, and let out a cry, pushing Sugar to run faster, and faster. The two doors finally grew within reach, both standing open, and Kace pushed Sugar through the leftmost door. He was only a step behind her, but the door was still able to slam shut in his face. He twisted, body contorting, feeling the breath of the… thing behind him on his neck, and launched himself through the rightmost door, hearing Sugar faintly call for him as his door closed.
~~**~~**~~
It floated between worlds, Its eyes focused on many things at once, while Its attention was focused on the two ponies who had strayed from the path It had been tasked to keep. It was old, older than It could remember, and if It had a proper name, it had been lost to time. All It knew was that It had been freed from the prison that It had been bound to, the cold steel and crumbling concrete of the Monolith, its steam engines and forges long since fallen silent. Silent, that is, until the Pink One arrived, with cranes and bulldozers and magical spells that disassembled the Monolith, breaking the seal and freeing It. It had planned to fly away, but overheard the Pink One’s plans, about some sort of fear ritual, and It had decided to stay, and help, enforcing the rules of the ritual with Its own brand of justice.
It looked down at the two rulebreakers, unknowingly frozen in time, stuck between realities, as It pondered what to do with them next. It peered into their minds, tasting their fears, and had It lips, It would have licked them as It began to create.
~~***~~
“Kaaaaaaaceeeeeyyyyyyy!” Sugar screamed, her hooves pounding against the rock wall that had once been a door. She slumped against the rock, trying to get her breathing under control, and looked around at the craggy rocks that surrounded her, rocks that looked… familiar, somehow. Dread clasped icy hooves even tighter around her heart as she made her way towards a turquoise glow that radiated from just around the corner. She stumbled, kicking loose stones, and finally rounded the corner, gasping as the glow’s source came into view. She recognized it immediately, and her knees shook as she approached it. It was Starlight Glimmer’s cutie mark wall, filled once more with cutie marks, more than Sugar remembered seeing. She bit her lip to avoid another gasp as she spotted Twilight Sparkle’s, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s. She checked her own flank, realizing that her costume had disappeared, and was slightly relieved to see her own mark was still there, but nothing could get rid of the pure fear that had settled within her. She turned, and made her way carefully out of the cave, moving slowly, paranoid that any sound would alert Starlight of her presence, a ridiculous thought, as Starlight had reformed recently.
Hadn’t she?
Sugar finally popped her head out into fresh air, and her stomach turned as she looked at the sky. The sun and moon hung together, a near eclipse, and the sky was a dark, bloody red. She walked on, coming to a bluff that overlooked Our Town, and her knees almost gave out as she saw what had happened to her home. There was almost nothing left of the small town, save for some scorched wooden fence posts and some stone foundations. Everything was gone, razed to the ground, and Sugar couldn’t take her eyes away from where her bakery used to be, now just a smoldering pile of ash. Finally, a rumbling that slowly grew louder pulled her eyes away, and this time she did collapse. The rumbling was hooves, thousands of them, marching up through the ruins of Our Town. Starlight Glimmer lay sprawled on an ornate carriage, carried by Celestia and Luna, their faces blank, followed by hundreds of ponies marching in step. Starlight smiled hatefully up at Sugar, and aimed her staff at her, a glowing orb of turquoise growing between the prongs. Sugar pulled away from the edge, stumbling, as a blast of magic took a chunk out of the mountain. She heard a shrill cry.
“Get her!” Starlight shrieked, before all sound was drowned out by the fluttering of hundreds of wings, dozens of pegasi taking to the skies. Sugar Belle scrambled back to the entrance of the cave, risking only a single look over her shoulder. She saw Kace, his face blank, an equals sign on his flanks, flying towards her like an arrow. She screamed, and threw herself back into the cave, tumbling down, down the rocks.
~~***~~
Kace skidded to a halt with the help of his wings. He turned around to face the door, but there was nothing there. He was in the middle of a long, brightly lit hallway, one that seemed incredibly familiar, yet he couldn’t place where he’d seen it before. Stained glass spilled colorful rays of light into the worn but loved rugs and floors, something that would have filled him with contentment usually, but right now, all he cared about was finding Sugar Belle and getting the Tartarus out of here. He reached up to adjust his helmet, only to find it missing, along with the rest of his costume. He spun in a quick circle, spying none of his clothes, about to start yelling out for Sugar when music touched his ears. An organ, playing something to faint to make out. Kace followed it down the hall, and as he approached a pair of huge wooden doors, the music grew louder and louder, and he realized it was wedding music, a rendition of ‘Here Comes the Bride’, then he remembered where he’d seen the hall before. It was Canterlot! His coach had been at the wedding of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, and took tons of pictures. Excited that he’d be able to get help, Kace burst through the door, but froze mid step at the sight before him.
The hall was packed to overflowing with ponies, standing shoulder to shoulder, save for a pathway up the center where a mare in a bridal dress and train walked slowly up to the altar. Kace blinked, and realized it was Sugar Belle, and he tried to call out for her, but his voice choked in his throat. He coughed, but those too were silent. His eyes widened further as black smoke billowed through a broken window, forming into the powerful form of King Sombra, leering over the crowd, who kneeled at his appearance. Sugar Belle kneeled as well, and Sombra laughed.
“Are there any who object to this marriage?” He called out mockingly, his green eyes staring into Kace’s soul. Kace tried to scream, to make any sort of sound at all, but he couldn’t. “It is settled then. I take this mare to be my rightful Queen.” Sombra licked his lips, and Kace saw Sugar’s eyes glowing an eerie green as he bent in to kiss her. Kace erupted up the aisle, mouth twisted in a silent scream, his wings spread wide, aiming to scoop Sugar into his arms and blast through a window to freedom, but she turned to smoke in his hooves. The smoke began to swirl around the pegasus, and Sombra laughed. Kace kicked, and punched, but it was no use. Sombra’s laughter grew louder, and louder, until he couldn’t even hear the rushing wind around him.
He clapped his hooves over his ears, and screamed silently, before he was dropped down into darkness.
~~**~~
Sugar Belle landed with a thump on hard floor. She rubbed her snout, heart still racing, but when she looked up, the entrance to the cave was gone, instead now just a red-painted wall. She got to her hooves shakily, not sure where she was, or if she could even trust her senses. What if this was all an elaborate trick by Starlight? She glanced around, seeing smears of pink and purple all around her as she turned her head. Confused, Sugar tried to cast a light from her horn, but it reflected off the smears right back into her eyes, and she let out a shriek of pain. Her eyes watered, and she blinked ferociously to clear her vision. A moment later, everything cleared enough for Sugar to realize she was staring at images of herself. She was in a hall of mirrors, lit gloomily by strange white bars that ran in uniform rows along the ceiling. She shivered. Sugar wasn’t a fan of regular hall of mirrors, let alone decidedly abnormal ones. With no other way out, she walked forwards carefully, finding a gap in the mirrors and entering the maze. It was disorienting, only being able to see warped versions of herself, and Sugar felt as if the mirrors were moving around her, making sure she was truly lost. She didn’t know how long she wandered in the silent maze, nor how far she’d walked, before she came to the end of the path. She turned to retrace her steps, thinking she’d missed a turn somewhere, only to find her way back blocked with more mirrors. She spun, around and around, seeing only her panic stricken face, until a second form appeared in one of the mirrors. Sugar halted, panting, and stared at the new pony in the mirror after making sure nopony was actually beside her. The mirror mare was old and her mane was white, scraggly, dangling far down to the floor. Her face was wrinkled, a map of valleys and mountains, etched by age, her eyes cloudy, unseeing. The mirror mare stood beside the mirrored Sugar Belle, and raised a knobby, gnarled hoof to touch her cheek, Sugar Belle feeling a brush against her own cheek.
“You wishhhhh… to be… thinnerrrr.” The mirror mare croaked, her voice directly in Sugar’s ear, and she would have jumped, had she not been rooted to the floor in terror. The mirror image of herself began to look… different. Her plump hips slowly receded, her belly shrinking, her face growing less round. Soon, her image resembled what most mares would think was a ‘normal’ weight, but the mirror mare’s idea of thinner was much, much worse. Sugar’s image grew pale, her mane losing its springy curls, her coat losing its luster. Her face grew gaunt, bags forming under her eyes, and Sugar saw ribs appear. Her mirror image was now barely a pony, now just bones held together by a paper-thin layer of skin, her mane falling out in clumps. The mirror mare began to laugh, a hacking, hateful cackle, and Sugar Belle lost her nerve. With a scream, her horn glowed brighter than it ever had before, and with a blast of magic, the mirror mare and the skeletal image of herself disappeared in a shatter of mirror pieces. Sugar spun on her hoof, destroying every mirror she could see, until she was surrounded by shards of glass, and a door that lay open, just slightly. A voice called for her from the door, Kace’s voice. Tears running down her face, Sugar ran for it.
~~**~~
Kace landed on dirt, his knees absorbing the fall with a twinge. He looked around, seeing nothing but tall stalks of corn, and a blue sky turning orange with a sunset. It was silent here, save for the rustling of the stalks, and the squeaks of mice running amongst the fallen leaves. Kace began to walk, feeling uneasy. “Hello?” He called out, happy that he could talk again. “Sugar Belle? Are you here? Hello?” Kace could see a glow in the distance, and he pointed himself towards it. His wings rustled at his sides, but he didn’t want to fly up. Something told him that would be a horrible idea. He walked into a clearing, and through the stalks on the other side, he could see a small farmhouse, lit from within by a warm glow. He felt, and somehow knew, that Sugar Belle was in there, and that this was real, not the mockery of a wedding he’d escaped. He trotted across the clearing, and was about to plunge through the corn to reach the farmhouse when the scuff of a hoof on the hard dirt behind him made him turn. Somepony was moving through the corn towards him, and in the fading light all he saw was just a shadowy figure approaching. Corn wilted, dying as the pony passed them, and when he, Kace just somehow knew it was a stallion, finally stepped into the clearing, Kace felt a thrill of fear racing up his spine. He couldn’t see the stallion’s face, his wild mane blocking the light from shining on him, but he could see his eyes, glowing red in the sunset. The stallion wore a denim jacket, with a sinisterly cheerful yellow smiley face pin attached to one of the lapel pockets. Kace felt cold radiating off of him, and he took a step back.
“Hey there, Kacey.” The stallion said, his voice calm, but there were giggles beneath it, giggles that would go on and on and on into insanity. “Pleased to meet you. Hope you can guess my name.” He held out a hoof, and his mane shifted to let light spill onto his face, his eyes shining red rubies set in a jester’s face. He grinned, showing far too many rows of teeth, all filed to a sharp point. The grin grew wider, and wider, the edges of his mouth stretching like taffy, until it looked like his mouth had elongated past his ears, giving him a pair of evil horns. Kace stumbled back through the corn, needing to get away from him.
The Dark Horse.
He heard the corn crunching behind him, the squeals of rats and weasels as they nipped at his heels, and scrambled towards the farmhouse, screaming for Sugar Belle, knowing that HE was right there as he exploded into the door…
~~**~~**~~
The more it plunged deeper and deeper into the two miscreants, the more It chastised itself, realizing Its mistake. Their rule breaking had been more misbehavior than malevolence, and It had been hasty in Its judgment. It! A being, eternities old, had been hasty! It finally reached into their souls, their very essence, and the blinding, brilliant love that flooded from their very souls overwhelmed, and warmed It, and It knew they had to be set free.
It snuffed the next realities out of existence, changing their paths to lead back to the Monolith, back together. It surprised Itself by feeling a sort of fondness for them, wanting to make things right with them, somehow. They’d had their ‘trick’, now they could have their ‘treat’, as the Pink One would say. As It receded from their minds, it searched for a common want, something for It to gift them before turning them loose.
If It had a mouth, It would have smiled as It saw the identical desires inside of them. A treat indeed. It would have chortled, had It a voice.
~~**~~
Kace and Sugar crashed into each other, forelegs clutching each other tight, unable to believe their eyes that they were back together. Their costumes were back, and Sugar’s horn banged painfully against Kace’s helmet, but neither cared. As they embraced, and kissed each other hard and fast, the room they stood in morphed slowly, like melting wax, from a storeroom to an empty display room. An exit sign flickered just beyond a chain, all that was between them and freedom. Sugar noticed it first, and as they ran, together, their hooves barely touched the floor.
That was until a pair of hoses burst out of the floor.
Sugar barely had time to react before the hose stuffed itself into her mouth, a strap wrapping around her muzzle to ensure it was stuck tight. Kace dodged to the left, turning his head away, but the hose was faster. It propelled itself into his mouth, hard enough to send him flying backwards, and his muzzle was strapped as well. They both tugged at the hoses, unable to budge them even an inch before they both felt a vibration, and the sensation of air whooshing up the hoses. Their eyes locked, an instant before cream flooded their mouths. Sugar let out a moan, muffled by her hose, as the cream roiled over her tongue. It tasted… warm, comforting. She started gulping it down easily, the terror she had felt melting away with each swallow. Her mind started to wander, memories washing behind her eyes, good memories. She sat rather quickly, her costume pulling tight across her rapidly swelling belly. There was a gentle shrrp as the velcro was pulled apart, and a majority of her costume puddled to the floor around her slowly expanding flanks, leaving only her white hat bobbing on her head as she rubbed and squeezed her belly, only aware of Kacey, and the growing, spreading love that heated her chest.
Kace fought the hose, his cheeks puffing out as he tried not to drink, but the cream was relentless. Moment by moment, the fight went out of the plucky pegasus, and he too surrendered to the cream. It tasted too good, and the warmth it filled him with was too pleasant to resist, the happy glow too inviting to battle any longer. He felt his jersey grow taut against his swelling midsection, and felt a pang of regret he was about to destroy it, before the cream swept any more negative emotion from him, his mind filling with happy memories as fast as his stomach was filled with cream. He looked over at Sugar, who’s belly had almost fully blocked his view of her face, but she seemed so serene, so content. He waddled over to her, feeling his belly slosh with each ponderous step, forelegs plumping and swelling, jersey tearing itself apart at the seams, his whistle snapping off his foreleg and skittering away to parts unknown. His belly was just starting to brush the floor when he sat next to his love. Sugar had fallen on her back now, her hat on the floor, her belly rising above her, higher and higher with each gulp. Her flanks spread across the floor, and her forelegs grew fatter and fatter as she rubbed and kneaded herself, a mountainous mare growing ever larger. Kace laid beside her, watching with a dreamy expression on his face his belly grow, and grow, and grow. He reached a hoof out to Sugar, who touched it lightly with her own. Not a minute later, their bodies pressed together, flanks and bellies growing, and growing, and growing. The pair slowly lost themselves to the cream, not caring where they were anymore, or how large they were getting. Together, they drank. Together, they grew, and swelled, and fattened. Together, their bloating bodies filled the room, the cold walls warmed by their fat as it pressed into the steel, the chain digging into their bellies.
They had each other, and that’s all that mattered anymore.
~~**~~**~~
It appeared in the ever-shrinking walkway, taking Its form of the Pink One under a white sheet. It floated, content, watching the two rulebreakers enjoy their ‘treat’. It had learned Its lesson, and made a silent promise that no other pony, or creature, would be subject to Its powers as they two had.
It pondered a moment, before a plaque materialized on the chain, that was slowly being stretched out by the pair. The plaque was simple, reading only ‘Do Not Play In Abandoned Factories! You Will Never Know What Lurks In The Dark!’, and It was happy It had thought of it.
Satisfied, It swirled Its sheet around Itself, and vanished, leaving the two ponies to grow, and grow, and grow…
