Haunted by Deception

Accord was harshly awoken from his mid-afternoon nap by the rapping of a hoof on the front door of Reichfield Manor. He tries to ignore it, but it didn't stop. It echoed through the house, growing in intensity. Finally, he opens his cold blue eyes, unable to to block the repetitive sound any longer.

"I swear, if this is another salespony, I'm going to explode," the grey pony mutters as he gets to his hooves and tosses his head to straighten his glasses. Slowly, he plods to the ancient front door. Through the stained glass window, he saw some sort of white pony with a curly purple mane. Rarity. A deep purple aura envelops the doorknob as he uses his unicorn magic to open it. "What?"

It was a surprise to have such a well-known pony standing on his doorstop, but Accord honestly couldn't care less who she was. He had stayed in his family house out in the country to escape from all of the hustle and bustle of Ponyville.

The white pony, oblivious to his annoyance, flashes a pristine smile. "Hello, Accord."

"Hello, Rarity," Accord replies, his voice flat. "Can I help you?" He wasn't going to be polite just because she had pretty much saved the world with her friends.

The next words were the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear. "Actually, yes," Rarity says, either ignoring his annoyed tone or not noticing it, “Can I come in for a few minutes."

Accord reluctantly nods and steps out of the doorway to let her in. "Sure." He heads towards the living room and Rarity follows close behind. Their hoofsteps sounded hollow on the old wooden floor. At the sudden introduction of a new pony, the house seems to groan. Rarity looks around with a bit of fear as the walls creak and the sound of a rat scurrying through the walls reaches her ears.

"Do you want something to drink?" Accord asks as Rarity slowly sits down on one of the couches.

"No, thanks," she says politely, “I just wanted to know if we could use your house for something."

Accord arches an eyebrow. "Use it for what?" he asks slowly, “This place is historic, you know..."

"Well, you see, Pinkie Pie wants to set up a haunted house for this year's Nightmare Night," Rarity explains, “So she collected a lot of other ponies to help....but forgot to plan where exactly the haunted house would be."

Accord frowns. He could see where this was going and didn't like it one bit.

"So can we use your house?" Rarity asks, “It’s simply perfect." She casts her gaze around the house, taking in the dusty trim, antique furniture, and spider web-infested chandeliers. As much as its filthiness disgusted her, this mansion would be the perfect place for a haunted house.

"Well..." Accord hesitates. He didn't have a good feeling about this. The house had been empty for so long. Would it even be right to use it for a petty haunted house?

Rarity gives the grey pony her best smile. "Please? We won't harm a thing! I promise!"

Accord bites his lip. He should have known that there would be pressure involved. Even as a colt, he hadn't been good at saying 'no'. He knew it was bad to let them into the house, but he couldn't just turn them down because he had a bad feeling.

"Fine," he sighs after a few moments of thought. "You can use it..."

"Oh! Thank you!" Rarity's joyous voice reverberates throughout the house, disturbing rooms that hadn't been disturbed in years and awakening something from its deep sleep. In the ancient rooms of Reichfield Manor, something old and treacherous was stirring.