Halloween Special 2022


                                            > The young pegasus took her eyes off her destination for a moment to adjust her wings. After her long travel the feathers were tickling her in all the wrong places, but a few well-placed tugs with her mouth soon got them all in order.

                                            > She was standing on a dirt road at the end of which an old, crumbling castle jutted from the ground. She cast her eyes over the dark, half-collapsed parapets which reminded her of nothing so much as ribs protruding from some monstrous, decaying corpse.

                                            > A quick glance at herself reassured the mare that her gear was all still in place. The tools, ropes, packs, and supplies which kept adventurers such as herself alive when they roamed far from civilization. She was well prepared, indeed, but the color of her coat made her wince afresh, as it had so many times before.

                                            > It was dark green, which was a proper camouflage color for an explorer adventurer, but there were some glaring pink patches which spoiled the whole thing. Not for the first time she wished she could change it.

                                            > Despite her handicap, Bolt Lightning wasn't afraid. This wasn't her first ruined castle, not even her first possibly haunted one. This was was *certainly* haunted, too, judging by the faint, ghostly glow in one of the intact upstairs windows. No living thing produced that kind of light.

                                            "Well, this is it," she said as her companion finally caught up with her. "You can wait outside if you're scared."

                                            > The colt with her, a pristine white unicorn with garish golden mane and tail, swallowed a sudden lump, but firmly shook his head. "I'm with you all the way. Let's do this."

                                            > His bravado sounded false, but it looked like he really meant it, which made the mare smile a little. She shrugged her shoulders to resettle the bag on her back, then walked forward.

                                            > Her journey would have been much faster and easier if she could have flown, but the company more than made up for it. Noble Blood certainly did live up to his name, it turned out. He'd helped her cross tar pits and bottomless ravines, and fight off rare and dangerous monsters.

                                            > His powerful magic had indeed come in useful more than once. Bolt Lightning thought she wouldn't be against taking Noble Blood along in her future endeavours.

                                            "Okay, let's go."

                                            > The metal grate screeched as Lightning reared up and used her whole weight to push against the rusty old door. She could have simply jumped over the wall, especially since it looked quite crumbled in some places, but that would have left her companion behind. Noble wasn't a particularly athletic pony.

                                            > "Jeez that's loud! Are you sure whoever lives here hasn't overdone it a little bit with the spooky?!" he complained, holding his hooves up against his ears.

                                            "You be sure and tell them," she quipped back, which shut him up.

                                            > They proceeded up the stone path which was barely visible through the combination of night, low fog, and overgrown weeds. Lightning wasn't a mare for plants and flowers, but the gardens to each side looked like they had been neglected for centuries. She thought she could see a few dried stems where flowers must once have bloomed, but even those were being choked by ugly, black vines.

                                            > In its heyday the place would have looked lovely, she thought wistfully. It would probably have employed gardeners to keep the lawn tidy.

                                            > Noble suddenly stopped and let out a quiet snort. When Lightning turned back, the young stallion's ears were pinned back and he was staring up at the ruin with wide eyes.

                                            "What is it?"

                                            > Her voice rang out too loud in the still, evening air, and it made the poor colt jump. Lightning lowered her tone to a whisper.

                                            "What is it?" she asked again.

                                            > "I thought I saw something move. Up there, in the upper floor!" he pointed with a hoof.

                                            > Bolt Lightning stared, but she couldn't see anything, except for that same ghostly glow a few windows away from where her friend was pointing.

                                            "Human or pony?"

                                            > There was no immediate reply, so Lightning turned to look at her friend who had his ears all the way flattened. "I think- g-ghost."

                                            > The expression on his face made her chuckle a little, even as her own stomach shrivelled a little in fear.

                                            "Don't worry, we can deal with ghosts."

                                            > The intrepid explorer patted her side bag to make sure her secret weapon was still secure.

                                            "Come on, let's go to the main door."

                                            > She made her voice lighthearted and confident, even when she herself didn't feel either of those two things. It took a bit of concentration to get her legs to move, but soon she was striding forward to the old castle door.

                                            > Lightning kept her ears turned back until she heard her companion begin to move, then focused all of her attention on their destination. It was a minor miracle that the gate still stood. The hinges looked rusted through and through, and the door handle had fallen off long ago.

                                            > The wood itself was probably brittle and spongy, like cardboard, or maybe old, rotten cork. If the gate would not open, she was pretty sure she could buck a hole for them through the panels.

                                            > Noble caught up to her, then jumped ahead and twirled around on the path in front of Lightning. "Are you crazy?! We can't just waltz through the front door!"

                                            "Why not?"

                                            > The question left the poor colt flabbergasted and he opened and closed his muzzle in shock. "Wha- Why not? Why- we just can't! You don't barge into a haunted castle through the front door, everypony knows that!"

                                            > In fact, Lightning was sure that not everypony knew that. Noble was trying to sound confident because he was scared. He was probably just looking for excuses to delay actually going inside.

                                            > Dangerous terrain and monsters were one thing, but ghosts were a completely different matter. She couldn't quite blame him, since her own throat was a tad dry in this dismal place.

                                            > She looked around him at some of the intact windows of the ground floor. They were dark, and most of them still had shards of their old window panes. One or two had thick, green vines growing in or out of the room.

                                            > It was a thoroughly unfriendly place.

                                            > Lightning squared her shoulders and pushed past her friend.

                                            "That's exactly what we're going to do. I don't enjoy the idea of sneaking around back to look for a different way in. There are probably traps!"

                                            > She recalled a particularly nasty experience with some glue a few years prior. True, that had been a deliberate trap set by modern-day ne'er-do-wells, and anything like that wouldn't have lasted for centuries, but there were bound to be different, equally nasty surprises left in this place.

                                            > Her companion was left standing on the stone path, watching her incredulously and shivering in a mixture of fear and rapidly dropping temperature.

                                            > It was probably ghosts, Lightning told herself. Everypony knew that it got colder when there were ghosts around. The late October weather probably wasn't helping either, nor was the fading light as the sun slid below the horizon.

                                            > They shouldn't have come at night, but it couldn't be helped. That was just how their journey had taken them. They simply had to be quick and get out of the ruin before all light was gone.

                                            > She had a battery-powered flashlight in her bag just in case, but Lightning thought they probably wouldn't need it, not with her excellent adventurer's night vision.

                                            > Besides, if the worst came to pass, they could barricade themselves in one of the rooms and weather the night. She had a book of incantations which should ward off any ghosts and they could block the door with old furniture if they had to.

                                            > It would be a cold, miserable and scary night, but Lightning was prepared to do it. She had sandwiches, some fruit, and a couple of bottles of clear, drinkable water. A mare could never be sure what she might find in an ancient ruined castle, after all.

                                            > She was nearly at the front door when she heard the telltale sound of hoofsteps behind her. It seemed her partner had decided he'd rather stay with her, even if he was afraid. Lightning was proud of him. Unicorns weren't usually known for their bravery, but Noble was coming along nicely.

                                            > The fact that her own hooves wanted to tremble was not relevant in the least!

                                            > They watched the gate for a while, then the colt asked: "Should- Should we knock?"

                                            > This made Lightning blink in surprise and she turned to stare at her friend.

                                            "Don't be silly! Who's gonna answer? Do you *want* a ghost to come answer the door? We sneak in."

                                            > Before he could object she reached out with a hoof and gave the wood a gentle push. To her relief the door wasn't locked and swung open easily and quietly. It was too quiet and she worried what that might signify. The grate at the road had squealed something awful, but this entrance flowed as if on well-oiled hinges.

                                            > Who would have oiled them and why?

                                            > Doubtless she would find out. Lightning gathered her courage and strode into a lavishly-decorated entrance hall. Most of the furniture was still there, though the shelves were broken and there were shards of ancient crockery on the floor. What wasn't smashed beyond recognition was covered by cobwebs.

                                            > The thought made her shudder. Spiders. Why did there always have to be spiders!?

                                            > She glanced up and saw a large hole in the roof, which explained some of the mess. The room had been exposed to the outside weather for Celestia-knew how many moons. It was a surprise that *any* furniture remained upright at all!

                                            > The two made their way around the edge of the room to avoid stepping on what was left of the carpet. Their hooves rang on stone, but that was preferable to touching the gray-black mess in the middle of the room.

                                            > An incautiously placed hoofstep crunched some porcelain shards and both explorers froze in their tracks.

                                            "Be careful!" Lightning hissed between her teeth.

                                            > The two ponies swiveled their ears around. They could detect distant wind and an ominous creaking noise, but nothing else seemed to move. Lightning dared to breathe again.

                                            "Okay, quiet now."

                                            > Noble gave her a nod and waited for her to go ahead. That was a smart move, since Lightning was far more experienced in exploring old ruins and would surely detect any traps where he would not.

                                            > Once she was past, Noble easily fell into her hoofsteps. He walked so close behind the young mare that she sometimes felt his hot breath on her croup, but she didn't have the heart to tell him to back off a little.

                                            > She had to concentrate a little so she didn't accidentally kick him with her hind hooves, but they were moving so slowly that it wasn't a big problem.

                                            > They made it around the room without much incident and Lightning stopped at the far corner to inspect a painting. It showed a stern-looking human man, with a crimson coat and a thin, sheathed rapier buckled to his waist. The castle was painted behind him, but that part of the painting was dark and hard to see.

                                            > What mostly stood out to Lightning was the man's pale face and haunted expression. She half-expected the picture to change and his skin to melt away, to reveal the skull underneath. Her imagination made her shudder.

                                            > "Who is that?" Noble asked and Lightning was grateful for the diversion.s

                                            "Not sure, but I think the Lord of the castle. One of them, at least. Looks like a nasty piece of work."

                                            > They watched the thin man for a while, then shook their heads and Lightning looked for the way forward. She identified a likely-looking door and walked over. It took her over the old carpet, but this part of the room was still mostly sheltered from the elements and the fabric was not rotten.

                                            > It almost felt normal to walk on and she relaxed a little.

                                            "This way, it's not bad. I guess the rain didn't get this far."

                                            > Noble followed gratefully and they made it into the corridor beyond the antechamber. The wall was covered by dark paneling, only broken where there were openings into the other ground-floor rooms. There were brackets on the walls, but of course no candles remained.

                                            > Without them the corridor looked nearly pitch black, as if there was a tangible shadow in the air. It was, most definitely, an Evil corridor and Lightning didn't like the idea of going into any of the ground floor rooms. She decided to leave that for later, if they didn't find any treasure upstairs. At least the first floor rooms would have more light on account of the damaged roof.

                                            > On the far side of the corridor was a small door, rounded at the top, which led to the cellars below. To the dungeons, she mentally corrected. No doubt there would be horrible implements of imprisonment and torture down there, things she really didn't want to see.

                                            > The only other way was up, but the staircase looked especially rickety and liable to turn to dust as soon as she put her hoof on it. She'd been hoping for stone steps, but it seemed the Lord of the castle had preferred wood.

                                            "Up or down?"

                                            > Noble inspected both ways and she saw him grimace as he thought the same thing about the dungeons she just had. "It doesn't look very safe," he commented when he observed the wooden stairs.

                                            "Let me try, we pegasi are lighter than unicorns."

                                            > Lightning placed a careful hoof at the bottom step. It squeaked as she put her weight on it, but it seemed to be holding. her other foreleg went to the next step, which also creaked ominously.

                                            > It was holding! The builders back in the day must have been geniuses, since the stairway was supporting her weight despite its absolutely abysmal condition! Encouraged, Lightning took another couple of steps until she had all four hooves on the wood.

                                            "It's holding. Okay, me first, I'll wait for you upstairs."

                                            > Noble still didn't look certain. "Are you sure? What if the treasure is in the dungeon?"

                                            > It had occurred to Lightning, but she had chosen not to think about it. Even now the thought was thoroughly unpleasant.

                                            "I'd rather search that last. Let's look upstairs, it's where the Lord and his wife and children slept. Maybe they kept their gold and jewelry near them. We'll go in the dungeons only if we really have to."

                                            > "Okay, sounds good," Noble said, sounding relieved. He sat on his haunches at the bottom of the stairs and watched his friend ascend.

                                            > It was easy going, even if the steps were a bit larger than what was comfortable for a pony. Lightning wasn't the tallest of mares, so it was that tiny bit harder to walk up steps made for humans. She was fit, though, and made it in good time.

                                            > She took a few moments to glance around the upstairs hallway. It was even more decrepit than the entrance hall, but the floor looked solid and some of the rooms seemed intact.

                                            > Crucially, it wasn't nearly as dark as the downstairs one, which made her feel better about exploring it.

                                            > That strange, otherworldly light was still shining out one door, but when Bolt Lightning closed her eyes and concentrated she didn't hear anything moving. They would avoid the weird light and check the other rooms, then they would quietly leave.

                                            > They hadn't come for *all* the treasure, just a bit of it. Enough to make the trip worth their while. Besides, no treasure was worth encountering an angry ghost.

                                            "Okay, it's safe! Come on up!" she hissed down the stairs.

                                            > Pretty soon she heard the answering creak as the ancient wood took Noble's weight. By luck he wasn't as fat as some of the unicorns Lightning knew, and the staircase easily held him.

                                            > On the way down, she thought, she could glide even if she carried him, so she didn't care if the stairway collapsed the moment he got up. Just let it hold that long, she wished fervently.

                                            > By some miracle it worked and soon her friend was standing beside her, breathing heavily while his eyes and ears darted this way and that.

                                            > "I don't like the looks of that," he whispered and pointed at the haunted room. "What is that light?!"

                                            "It could be something natural," Lightning explained. "Bioluminescent moss, maybe? It could also be a perfectly normal magical phenomenon. It doesn't *have* to be ghosts."

                                            > Unfortunately even her educated guess didn't convince her friend, possibly because she didn't really believe it herself. "It looks like ghosts to me," Noble muttered to himself, but didn't question her out loud.

                                            "We'll stay away from that room. Come, this way!"

                                            > She headed in the opposite direction and after a brief pause Noble followed, though she caught him glancing back at the scary glow.

                                            > They reached the end of the hallway and she poked her head in the room straight ahead. It was just a small chamber, as if someone had simply walled off a bit of the corridor. There was a large, copper bathtub which was nearly green with corrosion, and a cracked porcelain washbasin. She also saw a boxy thing with a hole inside and made an educated guess.

                                            > Whatever business the humans had done in the room was centuries gone, but her nose still wrinkled in disgust.

                                            "Not here," she told Noble. "Bathroom."

                                            > They hadn't invented running water in the time this had been built, Lightning knew, so the box would be emptied by servants each day, slave ponies, she was sure. That was one job she really didn't want to have, ever. Luckily it was no longer a thing.

                                            > The two explorers turned away and poked their noses in an adjacent room. That looked more promising and they saw a child-sized bed and a small furniture. It would be the proper size for a pony, even, but a few broken toy soldiers with the paint peeling off marked it as a human boy's room.

                                            > The door was nowhere to be seen, so nothing stopped them from going inside to look around. Lightning didn't think they'd find anything, but she wanted to be as thorough as she could. She already had a mental map of this wing of the castle and was plotting the best route through.

                                            > While she glanced idly around the room she was debating internally whether to search the room next to that glow, or avoid that entire part of the hallway, just to be sure. There was more of the castle left, after all.

                                            > They could go back down and search the rooms on the lower floor, although Noble had said he'd seen something moving down there. Alternatively, Lightning thought, they could cross to the other side of the antechamber and try that corridor. It was bound to have another way up into the other wing.

                                            > She opened her muzzle to lay out the ideas when they heard a new noise. Both ponies stepped closer together so their sides were touching and each could feel the other trembling.

                                            > Noble had his ears pinned as far back as they would go. "Th-T-That was a g-groan!" he whispered urgently

                                            "I know! M-Maybe we should go."

                                            > Before they could move, there came a faint thud of hoof on wooden stairs. Noble's monster was coming up!

                                            "Buck! What do we do!?"

                                            > Noble gave a slight whimper. "I dunno! You're the expert here! Think of something!"

                                            > Bolt Lightning cast an appraising glance around the room but couldn't see anything useful. The bed was too low for there to be any room under it, and none of the child-sized wardrobes were big enough for a pony to hide in.

                                            "This way!"

                                            > Fear made her limbs shiver, but "explorer adventurer" wasn't just an empty title. She could act under pressure, even when her heartbeat thundered in her ears and her nostrils flared with the effort of keeping her breathing quiet.

                                            > She hurried out of the room with Noble Blood right on her heels. They froze for a moment to gauge how near the monster, or whatever it was, had come. One of the steps creaked under tremendous weight, but it was still some distance away.

                                            > That gave them enough time and Lightning picked the very next door. She didn't know what was in the room, but anything would be better than getting caught out in the open.

                                            > The two tried to walk as quietly as possible on the stone floor, but however gently they placed their hooves each step rang out clear as a bell. Bolt was waiting for an angry growl, or a shriek, or *something* from their pursuer, but all she could catch were the same, low grunts and groans. Maybe the undead had really poor hearing?

                                            > Luckily the room they ducked into had a thick carpet, even if it was old and mouldy, and muffled their hoofsteps. As soon as she felt its softness on her frogs Lightning increased her pace and hurried to the far wall.

                                            > If it came to that, she could fly them both out the window, if it wasn't too small. These old castles often only had slits for arrows.

                                            > Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary, though. The creature, or the ghost, or whatever it was hadn't seen them go into the room. If it was zombie, it was probably quite stupid, and all they needed was to lay low until it wandered off.

                                            > Bolt Lightning scanned the room for hiding spots. There was a much larger bed, but the sides went all the way to the floor, so the ponies couldn't hide under. The wardrobes looked too rickety and could simply collapse when they touched them. There was a desk at the far wall, but it was open and wouldn't provide any cover. Lightning got a different idea.

                                            "Up!"

                                            > She butted Noble's rear with her head and he jumped, half in shock, half in pain. Once he was there, she leapt easily after him and grabbed the old, mouldy blanket in her mouth.

                                            "Mow affwiwe!"

                                            > Luckily the colt understood and shuffled around so she could pull the ancient cloth up and over them. Lightning got a mouthful of old dust, but she paid it no mind as she hurriedly pushed her friend under and flicked the fabric over them both.

                                            > She ended up lying partially across Noble's belly in that dark, hot little cave under the heavy cloth. The two tried to control their breathing, but Lightning could hear how Noble's heart was racing. Its sound filled her ears and she could swear each beat lifted her head slightly.

                                            > Hers wasn't going any less rapidly and she bit her hoof to keep from panting.

                                            > Whatever was after them was in the hallway! They both heard it. Hoofsteps, probably on bony legs. If it was a pony, it was a long dead one, especially this far from civilization.

                                            > It meandered this way and that, and the pair held their breath when they heard its raspy, rattling breath. It began to click and the image in Lightning's mind was of a skeletal apparition gnashing its teeth together as it searched. Its eyes were probably just two glowing red embers. If it had any skin left, it was probably hanging down from its ribs like pieces of tattered cloth.

                                            > Lightning had to bite down harder to suppress a frightened little whinny. She ignored the pain in her hoof.

                                            > The zombie pony was right at the bed!

                                            > Could it sense them? Did it know the bed looked different than usual? Undead were supposed to be stupid!

                                            > After a few tense moments, just as Noble was beginning to tremble under her, the creature made a low, throaty growl and stomped away.

                                            > The adventurers relaxed a little, though they weren't out of danger yet. They kept their ears focused on the monster's progress as it searched. Soon it was back on the hallway, its bony hooves unmistakable on ancient, cold stone.

                                            > It was moving away, toward the bathroom and the child's bedroom. Could it smell that the two had been there?

                                            > If so, it was only a matter of time before it came back and started poking around the bed again. They had to move.

                                            "We have to move!" she whispered urgently.

                                            > "W-What?! That thing is still out there!"

                                            "Shush! Come on!"

                                            > Before she could talk herself out of it, Lightning slid off Noble and crawled under the blanket to the edge of the bed. She pushed her head clear and inhaled the sweet, clear air outside.

                                            > It was a wonder the cloth in this room hadn't completely crumbled to dust, but it was certainly mouldy and gross.

                                            > Once her ears were free, Lightning paused for a moment to listen for the creature. She heard it rummaging around the other bedroom and knew this was their chance.

                                            "Hurry! Hurry!"

                                            > She dropped to the floor and tip-hoofed to the door. The hallway was empty, but it wouldn't stay like that for long. Bolt Lightning shuffled from hoof to hoof as she waited for her friend to disentangle himself from the bed. He came to her side and the way was still clear.

                                            > The only question was: could she risk staying upstairs with the hope that this wing was still connected to the other side of the castle, or would it be safer to run down the stairs?

                                            > The wooden steps would be a lot louder, and the ancient staircase probably wouldn't hold both of them, which meant one of them would be exposed at the top. On the other hoof, the stone corridor wasn't much quieter, but at least they could both run.

                                            > Lightning looked around for an inspiration and saw an old, wooden shoe on the floor beside her. A distraction!

                                            > She hefted it up to judge its weight and balance, then stepped out of the room with a murmured:

                                            "Get ready to run!"

                                            > A quick flick of her hoof sent the clog flying right into the bathroom, where it hit the copper tub with a loud clang and rolled to a stop.

                                            > There was a shriek of rage from the children's bedroom and a crash as the zombie pony fell over in its haste to reach the intruder.

                                            "Now!"

                                            > The two adventurers set off in the other direction while the metal tub was still ringing and before the creature could get its bearings. To her own ears, their hoofsteps sounded like thunder, but Lightning knew they were, in fact, trotting almost silently, despite the stone floor.

                                            > Her guess was proven right when the apparition ran into the bathroom, instead of chasing them. It seemed to slip on the stone tiles and crashed into the furniture. That gave them a few precious seconds and the two turned a corner, glad to have broken any potential line of sight.

                                            > Then they came to a halt, both sets of ears folding down in dismay. The corridor was full of rubble and broken stone. There was no way around or through it.

                                            "Buck! Buck buck buck!" Lightning swore, though she kept her voice low.

                                            > Again her friend pressed his flank against hers. "What do we do now?!"

                                            "Back to the stairs!"

                                            > They turned and looked around the bend, but then quickly drew back. It was already going for them, just as monstrous as Lightning had imagined.

                                            > Skeletal remains of a pony, with a white, wispy halo of ancient mane around the skull. Its eyes were two red dots, scanning ahead for the living intruders in its ancient domain.

                                            > Lightning's hind legs stepped closer together and she tried to swallow a lump, though her throat suddenly felt completely dry. She tried to come up with a plan, but it was obvious they couldn't get away. The hallway wasn't wide enough and the thing would get at least one of them.

                                            > A window! The young mare glanced around for a room they could hide in, or a window they could break and glide out, but this part of the castle was just corridor. They were cornered, and it was all her fault.

                                            > She should have known the ruin would be- well, *ruined*! At least, she thought mournfully, her mistake didn't have to cost her friend his life too!

                                            "G-Go! I'll distract it, you run past it!"

                                            > "What?! No-"

                                            "Shut up and do it! We don't have time!"

                                            > The colt looked at her with a mixture of admiration and fear, then he lifted his head high and stuck out his chest. "I'll get past it and try to distract it somehow! Maybe it will chase me!"

                                            > Lightning flashed him a grateful smile and the two embraced, briefly. It was the closest to a plan they could come up with on such a short notice and it even had a slight chance of working.

                                            > Bolt Lightning gave her friend a quick nod, then galloped around the corner, true to her name. She screamed what she hoped would sound like a battlecry, but was probably closer to a little filly's frightened shriek.

                                            > The monster spotted her and howled in reply as it pounced toward her. At the last second Lightning flipped to her side and tried to topple the creature over. If she knocked it down maybe she could escape and they could risk the stairs together.

                                            > Unfortunately it didn't work. The undead was incredibly strong and all breath was knocked from her lungs, as if she had hit a stone wall. The monster's howl turned to a shriek and it clutched at her with cold, skeletal legs.

                                            > The young mare squirmed in an effort to free herself and she saw out of the corner of her eye that Noble had made it past and was yelling too. Unfortunately the creature was entirely fixated on the prey it had in its grasp and the poor unicorn couldn't get its attention.

                                            > All he could do was look at her impending, doubtlessly gruesome, demise.

                                            "Fly, you fool!" she hissed as she landed a feeble blow on the whine bone skull.

                                            > It did nothing and the zombie simply tossed her down. The impact made stars swim around her vision, and then the slavering ghoul fell on her. It lunged right for her face.

                                            > Lightning squealed in anticipation of pain and thrashed. She no longer had any control over her body and felt warm wetness splash against her legs. She'd peed herself in fright.

                                            "Eeeeeee! Stop! Stop! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

                                            > Everything was quiet for a moment, then the zombie pony let her go and sat up. It looked down at the damp spot already spreading on the hardwood floor.

                                            > "Anon, get the light," it said in a normal pony voice.

                                            > A few moments later there was a click and warm, yellow light spilled across the scene.

                                            > It wasn't the upper story of a ruined stone castle, but the first floor of a suburban house. There were some posters of stone bricks taped to the walls, and some fake cobwebs in the corners.

                                            > The apparition wasn't a skeleton, but rather a normal pony in a black suit with bones painted on.

                                            > Bolt Lightning flipped to her belly and tried to hide the puddle as the others closed in. Noble Blood was coming closer, a mixture of concern and disbelief on his muzzle. From the other direction came a tall human with a black camera in his hand.

                                            > "Everything okay?" the human, Anonymous, asked.

                                            > The zombie fiddled with its hood until it found the seam, then yanked it off. The wispy white mane was replaced by a lush dark blue of healthy hair. The bones visage became the dark pink of Serenity's muzzle. A natural pink which was exacerbated by a blush.

                                            > He looked at the human. "I think we might have gone too far this year," he said quietly and pointed a hoof at where a distinctive yellow puddle was visible on the hardwood under Lightning. She lowered her ears and averted her eyes.

                                            > The human Anonymous came to kneel beside her and found her muzzle with his hand. He gently pulled her around so she could look at his smiling face. "Hey, it wasn't your fault Lily. These things happen. Serenity is right, we went a bit overboard with the spook this time."

                                            > It helped and the young mare lifted herself up. She shrugged out of her fake wings and the backpack of the famous explorer she'd named 'Bolt Lightning'. She didn't feel particularly worthy of the title at the moment. Lightning certainly wouldn't have peed herself in fright, even if she was being eaten by a monster.

                                            "I- I didn't mean to- it just felt so real! When it was dark, the decorations and all... I guess- I forgot we were playing make believe."

                                            > A new, entirely different, but no less real fear blossomed in Blue Lily's heart and she turned her frightened eyes on the human.

                                            "I'm not banned for next year, am I, Mr. Anonymous? I mean- I'd understand, but I'm really sorry and I didn't mean and I'll clean it up, I promise, and-"

                                            > She stopped talking when the hand clasped her muzzle shut, but she gave it a quick lick just to be sure. The man chuckled. "Don't worry, sweetie! Of course you're welcome back next year! It was just an accident, no harm done."

                                            > "I'll clean it up," Serenity offered. He was still in his skeletal costume, except for the head. "You'll have to take Lily to the downstairs bathroom, the upstairs one isn't really functional right now. I'll clean up and set up for the next group of children."

                                            > The man reached over to pat the stallion's head. "Sounds good. Just try and tone down all the shrieking and stuff. I think it was your performance that did it."

                                            > He slid his arms around Lily's barrel. "C'mere, you. Let's get you cleaned up and get some candy in your saddlebags, how's that sound. Would you two kids like some hot chocolate?"

                                            > This sounded a lot better and Lily began to smile. She turned to her friend. "What do you say, Cotton? When do you need to be back?"

                                            > The colt looked around in deep thought, then shrugged. "I suppose. I should call Mom, but it's not that late yet. It took me ages to dye my mane this color, I don't wanna go home too soon."

                                            > With the filly safely in his arms, Anon led the way down the stairs to the living room. The steps looked a lot less rickety in the light, and the fake dust was super obvious. Once down, the ponies looked around in wonder. A few strategically placed cobwebs, some fake cardboard furniture, and some strange trick with the lights had transformed an ordinary room into a huge castle's antechamber.

                                            > There was good reason Mr. Anon's house was a local favourite for foals and young children every Halloween. The decorations and the stories just kept getting better and better.

                                            > Even the invitation had been a little masterpiece, an urgent letter from a fake Canterlot Explorers' society calling for their elite members to find the lost treasure of an old castle.

                                            > There were still some holes, Lily thought now that her brain wasn't flooded with fear anymore. For instance, why would a human castle ruin have pony ghosts and zombies? Equestrians were a relatively recent arrivals on Earth, after all.

                                            > Then again, the details of the story didn't matter, not when the decoration and acting was that good, and when it helped to include all creatures, no matter where they came from.

                                            > She remembered the camera Anon had had in his hand.

                                            "Wait, you won't show that video to anyone, will you? I don't want my friends and family seeing me- do that!"

                                            > Again the man laughed good-naturedly. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll delete that bit. Okay, here we are."

                                            > He deposited her gently on the floor of white tiles in a bathroom which was at least a couple of centuries ahead of the one upstairs. Lily wanted to go and look at it in the light, to see how it was done, but she could curtail her curiosity until she was clean.

                                            > "You got everything you need?"

                                            > She glanced around and saw some of Serenity's shampoos laid out in easy reach around the shower cabin.

                                            "I got it. Just one thing, Mr. Anonymous-"

                                            > "Just Anon, please," he said kindly.

                                            "Um, okay, Anon. How did you make the upstairs tub look like it was copper? It even sounded like metal when I threw the shoe! Oh! I hope I didn't damage anything..."

                                            > He reached down to give her a pat and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "It's an old tub from my grandmother, made of tin. That's why it sounds metal. I just painted it copper-green."

                                            > The young pony winced in sympathy.

                                            "That's gonna be horrible to clean!"

                                            > "Don't worry, we're used to it by now. Serenity and me have been doing these for quite a few years. I was doing it alone for human kids before you guys showed up. I know about cleaning up after."

                                            > She wanted to ask if any of the human youth had visited the haunted house this evening, or if she and Cotton Cloudy were the first, but the human had turned to leave. She saw that her friend was standing outside and caught his gaze for a moment before the door was closed and she had some privacy.

                                            > Just a quick shower, then she had more questions for Mr- for Anon, and then-

                                            > His voice reached her ears: "Say, if your parents don't mind, how would you two like to put on skeletal costumes and help me and Serenity for a bit?"

                                            "YES!" she shouted. "OH PLEASE YES!"

                                            > Her explorer's outfit, along with the green fake-fur and painted cutie mark, and the papier-mâché wings were discarded without second thought. Skeletal pony sounded much more fun as a costume!

                                            > It was also bound to cover her pink fur a lot better than the makeshift patchwork she and her mother had sewn for 'Bolt Lightning'.

                                            > She heard both Anon and Cotton Cloudy laughing in the hallway and Blue Lily quickly turned on the water to get the shower done as quickly as possible.

                                            > Buck explorer, she should have gone as a monster this year!