As the chilling sound of laughter, the scraping of scissors against flesh, the spurting of blood, and the screams of the brown stallion still echoed in their minds, Glitterball and her two companions swiftly ran through the mansion in an attempt at getting away.

The three mares were panting heavily due to them running full steam down each hallway and through each room, but they didn’t dare to slow down. Whatever had attacked them in that room was supernatural, and it was downright evil. From the sound of the laughter, the trio figured that it was a female whatever it was, and that it enjoyed hurting others.

Finally, Glitterball slowed down to a halt and leaned up against the wall. Her burning lungs and her tired legs could carry her no further, and judging from the state of her two companions, the unicorn figured that they weren’t doing much better.

“*Pant*… *Wheeze*… do you… do you think we lost it?” Rarity asked in a fearful tone while catching her breath.

Glitterball glanced to the doorway they just came from a little ways down the hall. They hadn’t heard footsteps or laughter since they started running, so she had no idea if their invisible assailant had followed them or not.

“I don’t know…*Pant*” Glitter replied in an exhausted tone. The white mare could immediately tell that her answer was less than satisfying to her two friends, but it was all she could give.

“What was that thing?! It just… it just killed that poor feller and tried to kill us!” Applejack shuddered coldly as she thought back to the gruesome scene she just ran from. On top of brutally murdering the guard they were with, the invisible force used those scissors to completely slaughter Sargent Fireside and his men.

“I don’t know! I just… I just don’t know!” Glitterball replied in a panicked tone. She was way out of her league, and it was starting to show. Applejack and Rarity were concerned that the unicorn might have a panic attack if she kept this up. The orange mare wanted to calm her friend down, but she was scared and uncertain herself.

Suddenly, Rarity turned her attention to her orange friend as she cringed in pain. The unicorn gasped as she saw the full extent of her injury. There was a shallow gash across the earth pony’s back from where the scissors glided across it. The wound didn’t look deep, but it was bleeding profusely and staining Applejack’s clean orange fur red.

Rarity felt horrible as she looked at her friend coping with the pain of her injury. Applejack had received the horrible wound while saving her life when the scissors tried to kill her. If it wasn’t for the orange mare, Rarity might have fallen to the same fate as their guard companion.

“Applejack, are you ok darling?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone while putting a loving hoof on her shoulder and examining her wound further. Applejack tried to hide the pain she was feeling from the two unicorns. She could already tell that Rarity was beating herself up as she frowned at the bloody gash.

“Ah’m fine Rarity… it’s nothing but a little scrape.” Applejack said with a forced smile. Rarity was unimpressed by her friend’s attempt at comforting her.

“Nonsense! You’re hurt… and it’s all my fault.” Rarity stated while looking down sadly. “I’m so sorry darling… if only I would have reacted faster… then you wouldn’t have gotten this ghastly cut.” She said in a gloomy tone while avoiding eye contact with the orange mare. Applejack softened her expression into a sympathetic frown as she looked at the white mare.

“Ah would rather have to deal with this cut than deal with you getting killed while Ah sat back and watched.” Applejack stated in a sincere tone while smiling slightly at the unicorn. “As much as you get on my nerves sometimes… Ah would never forgive myself if Ah let something happen to you.” She added, eliciting Rarity to look over at her with a touched expression.

“Applejack… I don’t know what to say. You…” Rarity smiled warmly while gently hugging the farm pony. “You’re one of the best friends a girl like me could ask for.” She said in a sincere tone. Applejack couldn’t help but to smile at the white mare. Even Glitterball was touched by the heartwarming exchange between the two friends. However, there were more important matters to tend to.

“Here… let me take a look at your injury Applejack. I might be able to help.” Glitter suggested while maneuvering around the orange mare to get a better look at her wound. Applejack held still while the unicorn examined her back.

“How bad is it?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone.

“It looks worse than it is… I think I might be able to patch this up right here.” Glitterball explained while lighting up her horn. She reached into her vest and pulled out some disposable washcloths. After gently wiping the excess blood away, she focused her magic on sealing the gashes.

Rarity watched in amazement as the cut on the farm pony’s back started closing up. Before long, Applejack’s back looked no worse than it had before the attack. The only thing remaining to even indicate that there was a gruesome wound was a few dark stains on her fur from all of the blood.

“There, how does that feel?” Glitterball asked while patting the orange mare’s newly healed back. Applejack was impressed to see that she couldn’t feel any more stinging pain.

“Ah feel good as new… you make one mighty fine medic, Glitter.” Applejack stated happily.

“Well… I can’t do much more than close up small scrapes and bruises, but it does come in handy now and again. Now then, we should get back to the matter at hoof.” Glitterball said while looking forward into the hallway. There was a decent amount of distance between them and the next door, but simply continuing down the hallway wasn’t necessarily the best option.

“I think we’re looping back around to the side of the house we came from… I hope.” Rarity said with an uncertain tone while thinking back to the path the group took during their escape. In her haste to keep up with her friends, the unicorn didn’t pay much attention to where she was going.

“Ah just hope that whatever that thing was is gone by the time we get back there.” Applejack stated uneasily.

“That’s it… I’m calling the others. Hopefully they are doing better than we are doing.” Glitterball said while putting a hoof up to her ear and concentrating on Brimstoke. Once she felt the connection coming through, she took in a breath to speak.

“Brimstoke, this is Glitter… are you there?” Glitterball asked with a slight twinge of nervousness in her voice. She couldn’t shake the thought that her friends were attacked by the same thing from her head.

“Glitter…? This is Brimstoke. Is everything ok?” The voice of the stallion rang out in her ears, eliciting a smile from the unicorn. Glitterball breathed a sigh of relief before continuing.

“We ran into some trouble up here… we found Sargent Fireside and his team.” Glitter explained while looking at her two companions with a dreadful expression.

“That’s great! Where are they?” Brimstoke asked eagerly. Glitterball paused as she tried to find the strength in herself to describe what happened. The stallion must have noticed her pause, because she felt him growing uneasy as she silently thought.

“Are they alright?” Brimstoke asked hesitantly.

“No…” Glitterball finally managed to speak up. “No… they… they aren’t. We found them all together in a room… they’re dead.” She said in a shaky voice. The unicorn had to sit down to ease the sick feeling in her body as she thought about what just happened further.

“What happened to them…?” Brimstoke asked in a somber tone.

“We didn’t know at first… all we found in there with them was a pair of bloody scissors on a table. We thought that maybe one of the hooded ponies did it… but then the scissors lifted into the air and tried to kill us.” Glitterball explained while looking down at the floor.

“Oh my gosh… are you guys ok?!” Brimstoke asked in an alarmed tone.

“Yes… we made it out ok… the guard we were with wasn’t so lucky though.” Glitterball said in a gloomy manner.

“Was it Shadow Mist? I swear to Celestia if I get my hooves on that spineless coward I-” Brimstoke started to get angry at the thought of the red stallion killing an entire team of guards and trying to kill his friends, until he was interrupted by the unicorn speaking up again.

“It wasn’t Shadow Mist… I don’t know what it is… but it wasn’t Shadow Mist.” Glitterball stated uneasily.

“How can you be sure?” Brimstoke asked in an understandably sympathetic tone.

“The scissors moved too fast and too fluidly for them to be held by a pony… invisible or otherwise. And… we heard someone laughing. A girl from the sound of it… but it was like it was coming from everywhere around us. When we ran, we tried to head back to the foyer, but we heard footsteps outside of the door… it sounded like somebody with two feet walking around.” Glitterball explained in a nervous tone.

“Like… like a human?” Brimstoke asked uneasily as he caught on to something that the unicorn was hinting at without even knowing it.

“Yes… like a human, but it wasn’t Tom. He is still missing… how is that possible?” Glitterball asked in a bewildered tone. The only human in all of Equestria was Tom, but it couldn’t have been him.

“Glitter… listen up. I think I might know what we’re dealing with.” Brimstoke said with a hesitant pause.

“You do? Well please share with the class Brimstoke. I’m at my wit’s end here.” Glitterball said with a nervous chuckle.

“Some hoods that we caught down here talked about a myth circulating among their group. According to them, the three humans that owned the house still haunt it… as ghosts.” Brimstoke explained, much to the surprise and confusion of the unicorn.

“Ghosts? Really…?” Glitter asked with an uncertain tone.

“Yeah… I know how it sounds. We didn’t believe them either… but some weird stuff has been happening down here. We saw something moving out of the corner of our eyes, and all of the candles in the room we were in blew out. Also, we got separated from Fluttershy and Neon when a door slammed in our faces and locked by itself.” Brimstoke continued uneasily.

“What?! You got separated from them?! Are they ok?!” Glitterball asked in an alarmed tone.

“I’m not sure… we told them to call us if they ran into trouble, but we haven’t heard from them since. We’re trying to find them now.” Brimstoke stated in a hopeful tone.

The news that two more of her friends were unaccounted for made the unicorn spiral into a nervous panic. She felt herself breaking out into a cold sweat as her body started shivering from unease. She felt a pit developing in her stomach as well, making her sick to her stomach.

“Ohhh… what are we going to do?” Glitterball whined fearfully while leaning back against the wall. She didn’t necessarily want the stallion to hear her, but she kept her hoof to her ear, so he doubtlessly did.

“Calm down Glitter… everything’s going to be fine. We just need to take things slow and think about how to handle this.” Brimstoke said in a reassuring tone in an attempt at calming the nervous unicorn.

“How do we handle this Brimstoke? We’re missing the princess and Tom, Fluttershy and Neon Streak are missing, and now you’re telling me that the bloody massacre we just ran from was caused by one of three homicidal ghosts!” Glitterball said while on the verge of hyperventilating. She suddenly felt a gentle hoof land on her shoulder. The unicorn looked up to see Applejack and Rarity offering her silent expressions of reassurance. Although this wasn’t enough to fully calm her down, she did feel better enough to recompose herself.

“For the moment… the only thing I want you to worry about is getting back to the others. Go pick up Twilight and Rainbow Dash, and then hunker down in the foyer with the others.” Brimstoke instructed in a gentle tone.

“Ok…” Glitter said after taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Once she managed to compose herself, she got up from the floor and turned to her two companions.

“Apparently Fluttershy and Neon Streak got separated from the others… we don’t know where they are.” Glitterball explained uneasily. Applejack and Rarity gasped in shock at the news that their friends were possibly in danger.

“Oh my gosh… Ah hope they’re ok.” Applejack stated in a concerned tone.

“Brimstoke says that they will call if they get in trouble… so hopefully they are still doing alright. In the meantime, we need to get back to the others.” Glitterball said while turning her attention back down the hallway. Applejack and Rarity shared a concerned glance with each other before following their companion down the hallway.

Once they reached the end and opened the door, they came out into a hallway leading in the direction of the foyer. Although it wasn’t the hallway they came from, it was most likely on the other side of the locked door that they saw at the end. They were definitely on the outside edge of the house. There were windows to their right that gave a glimpse outside at the raging storm. Flashes of lightning periodically lit up the entire hallway, providing a snapshot of a door at the far end.

“That door down there should lead us back.” Glitterball said in a hopeful tone while pointing at the far off door.

“Let’s get going then… Ah don’t like this place.” Applejack stated uneasily while looking around. She was still hoping that whatever attacked her and her friends earlier wasn’t just waiting for them to return up ahead.

Slowly and cautiously, the three mares started their way down the hall. The constant sound of rain hitting the windows beside them made them on edge. They could hardly see anything out of the dark water soaked glass, but just knowing that the entire outside world was just behind that wall was unnerving to them, not that knowing that a gigantic eerie mansion was to their left and all around them was any less unnerving.

“My goodness… it’s really coming down out there isn’t it?” Rarity said while jumping slightly at a flash of lightning. The others glanced outside, only to see more rain pounding against the windows as thunder boomed in the distance.

“Ah just hope poor Sunspot is doing alright out there. She must be soaking wet and cold by now.” Applejack said in a concerned tone while thinking about the pegasus and her team being outside in the storm.

“Yeah… we should check on her. Do you think you could see if you can reach her Glitter?” Rarity asked curiously. She wanted to see if the orange pegasus was at least still safe.

“Alright… we can tell her what’s been going on anyway.” Glitterball said while putting a hoof up to her ear and concentrating.

“Sunspot, you holding up ok?” Glitter asked while glancing towards the outside. She waited for a moment for the pegasus to respond. One moment quickly turned to two, and the white mare’s confusion quickly turned to unease as her teammate didn’t answer.

“Sunspot…?” Glitter asked again in a louder tone. Applejack and Rarity could hear a twinge of nervousness in her voice as she tried to get in contact with the pegasus.

“What’s wrong?” Applejack asked uneasily.

“She’s not picking up…” Glitterball replied nervously before returning her attention to the unresponsive pegasus. “Sunspot… answer me if you’re there… this isn’t funny.” She said in a pleading tone. By now, all three mares were growing fearful for Sunspot’s safety as they stared at each other with uneasy expressions.

“Why isn’t she answering?” Rarity asked nervously while looking at the unicorn with a fearful expression of uncertainty.

“I don’t know, but she needs to pick up right now or I’m going to freak out.” Glitterball said uneasily. Her hold on her emotions was tenuous at best after everything that happened, so to learn that another friend had gone missing would send her over the edge.

“Sunspot! Answer m-” Glitterball started to yell for the pegasus, when an ear-shattering noise pierced the air.

“AHH!” Rarity screamed in fright as the sound of glass breaking filled the hallway. The ponies saw one of the windows down the hall shattering and spraying glass everywhere as something flew through it. When the three mares took a better look, they saw that a pony shaped object was sent through the window and onto the floor.

“Oh my gosh!” Glitterball exclaimed fearfully while hesitantly walking forward to get a better look at the situation. She suddenly gasped and her face went pale as she caught a better look at the pony on the ground amid a flash of lightning.

“SUNSPOT!” The unicorn yelled in shock while rushing forward. Rarity and Applejack quickly followed the alarmed mare as she ran down the hallway.

There was broken glass strewn along the floor everywhere. The gaping hole where the window once was let rain fall into the hallway as the wind blew it inside. The violent flashes of lightning that lit up the sky now freely illuminated the hallway through the hole, shining light down on an orange pegasus in a vest sprawled out along the floor.

As they reached their friend, the trio gasped in horror as they examined the scene before them. The pony on the floor was definitely Sunspot. She was lying in a sea of broken glass with blood pouring from several cuts of various sizes. There was a sizable gash in her vest that revealed a shallow wound that looked like it came from some kind of weapon. Her legs were bent at odd angles, with her neck in a strained position from settling after her body sailed through the window.

“Oh no… no, no, no!” Glitterball rushed up to her friend, haphazardly ignoring the broken glass as she knelt beside the pegasus. She shakily grabbed the motionless pony and rolled her over. There were shards of broken glass sticking out of her side from where she was lying, and her eyes were closed.

Glitterball quickly put an ear to her friend’s chest. Thankfully, she could hear the soft pitter patter of the mare’s heart. However gruesome and shocking her injuries appeared, she was at least alive, if only just barely.

“What happened to her?!” Applejack asked while frantically looking around to piece together what could have happened in her head. The ponies looked outside of the now broken window to see if they could find the one who attacked their friend.

Only rain and darkness welcomed the three mares as they looked outside. Every so often, they would catch a glimpse of the empty side of the house with dead trees sitting outside of the iron fence a short distance away as lightning lit up the area in white light.

Suddenly, while the group was staring outside, a strange event made them look downwards. The hundreds of pieces of glass littering the floor were now lifting into the air and flying back at the window where they would reattach. It was like watching the window getting broken in reverse. Soon enough, every shard of glass that wasn’t sticking into Sunspot was back in its original place. Every crack made by the imperfect pieces rejoining together suddenly closed back up, and even the pieces missing from being impaled in the unconscious mare were restored. Soon enough, the window looked like it did before the incident, much to the confusion of the three ponies.

“Wh… w-what… what just happened?” Rarity asked in a bewildered tone.

“I don’t know… the window just… fixed itself.” Glitterball stated, as if she was confirming what she just saw with the rest of the group.

“Forget about the window… we need to get Sunspot back to Peppermint. She needs medical attention real bad.” Applejack said while returning her attention to the pegasus on the floor.

“Sunspot… can you hear me?” Glitterball asked while gently tapping the orange pony on her shoulder. She was afraid that she might have a neck injury, so moving her was going to be tricky. The unicorn felt her heart sink as the pegasus remained motionless and unresponsive to her stimulus.

“What did this to her? Where did she get that awful wound on her stomach?” Rarity asked while pointing out the large gash on Sunspot’s chest. The smaller cuts and the possible broken bones were easy to figure out. Sunspot did just fly through a solid glass window at high speeds after all. The larger wound however, that looked far too serious to have been caused accidentally.

“I don’t know, but it looks pretty bad. Help me hold her up for a minute… I’m going to try to put a bandage on it to stop the bleeding.” Glitterball said while looking at the wound and frowning. Applejack and Rarity nodded before walking forward and kneeling beside the pegasus.

“Careful… we don’t want to move her too much. She might have broken something.” Applejack suggested uneasily while picking the unconscious mare up by her shoulders.

“Watch the glass…” Rarity said while narrowly avoiding cutting herself on a piece that was still jutting out of the orange pony.

“I’ll need to remove those too… we don’t want to cut ourselves or push them in further when we move her.” Glitterball shrugged while pulling out a roll of gauze from her best. With the aid of the two mares, the unicorn started wrapping the bandage around Sunspot’s body.

“Ugh… horsefeathers. I’m out of bandages, and I don’t think this is tight enough to stop the bleeding.” Glitterball frowned as she glanced down at the thin bandage. The clean white material was already getting stained red as the crimson fluid bled through it with ease.

“Let’s just get her back to the others… Applejack, help us lift her… Applejack?” Rarity asked while looking around for her friend with a confused expression. She finally found the farm pony standing behind her staring down the hallway where they just came from.

“What’s wrong darling?” Rarity asked uneasily while looking at the fearful expression frozen on the orange mare’s face. Applejack only managed to slowly point her hoof in front of her as a response. Rarity and Glitterball followed where she was pointing, until they froze suddenly in fear.

Further down the hallway, there was a shadowy figure walking in the darkness. The figure was tall, and it was humanoid in shape. As a flash of lightning flooded the hall with white light, the ponies got a good look at the figure. It was a human, but it wasn’t the human they were expecting to see.

The human was a pale man in a brown dress shirt with a white undershirt and white sleeves. He had black pants on with black shoes and a red bow tie. The man himself had dark hair and brown eyes, with a blank and cold expression on his face as he walked forward slowly. He had a ghostly appearance to him, being slightly transparent. The ponies wondered if they were seeing things, but the heavy footsteps that occurred every time he took a step forward told them that he was real.

“Is that a… a ghost?!” Rarity asked in a shocked tone. The white mare didn’t really believe in ghosts, even in light of everything that she was exposed to in recent days, but there was no other logical explanation. The human was pale, transparent, and it was there. The only way that a human could be standing in front of the ponies would be for it to travel through time like Tom did, or for it to be a spirit, which was the more likely of the two.

“S-stay back! I’m warning you!” Glitterball said in a threatening tone while standing in front of her two companions and pulling out her strobe. The human kept staring forward at the ponies while silently walking towards them.

“Ah don’t think he’s listening to you Glitter.” Applejack said uneasily while keeping her attention fixed squarely on the ghostly human.

“Stay behind me… he won’t be able to hurt us with me here.” Glitterball said with false courage. She held her strobe tightly in her hooves, as if to assure herself of its power.

Suddenly, the group noticed that the human was holding his right hand behind his back. They only just realized this, as he slowly moved it into view and revealed what he was holding. The ponies froze in place as they saw the man carrying a blood stained axe beside him idly, as if he didn’t even care about it. Just as suddenly as the human revealed the axe, he slowly brought it up and held it in both hands while still walking forward menacingly. The cold and blank expression on his face suddenly became incredibly sinister to them.

“…!” Rarity and Applejack were frozen in fear as they stared at the bloody weapon. They glanced down to Sunspot’s injury. It occurred to them that the large wound on her chest was the same size as the blade of the axe.

Deciding that she had had enough of the ghostly figure, Glitterball pressed the button on her strobe and fired a blast of energy at the ghost. Before the bolt could hit him, he vanished from sight, causing the blast to sail down the hallway until it collided with the door at the far end. Once the bolt had passed, the human reappeared, though he appeared much closer than he was before.

“Ack!” Glitterball yelped in surprise while backing up defensively. She turned to her two companions fearfully.

“Get Sunspot! We need to get out of here!” Glitter instructed frantically before turning around and opening fire. The ghost disappeared from view again, but the unicorn hoped that she could keep it at bay by continuously firing.

Rarity and Applejack wasted no time before they started lifting the unconscious mare up. Even though they were in a hurry, they were still worried about doing more damage to the pegasus. They couldn’t tell if she had any broken bones from first appearances, but if she had a neck injury, they could kill her by moving her the wrong way.

Once Rarity lifted Sunspot onto Applejack’s back, the two were ready to leave. They glanced over to see Glitterball still firing her strobe rapidly down the seemingly empty hallway, but they knew that she was fighting an unseen enemy that was drawing ever closer.

“Let’s go Glitter!” Applejack announced frantically. Glitterball turned to see that the pair had picked the unconscious pony up and were ready to run. Suddenly, Applejack and Rarity saw the ghostly human appearing just in front of the unicorn. He looked down at her menacingly while gripping his axe tightly.

“*Gasp* Glitter look out!” Rarity cried out while pointing behind the white mare. Glitterball turned around just in time to see the human bringing the axe up in preparation to swing at her.

“AH!” Glitter screamed as she ducked to the floor desperately. She felt the axe breezing past her head as the human drove it sideways into the wall with a deafening crunch. While the unicorn covered her face with her hooves and shook fearfully, the human pulled the axe out of the wall and brought it up to swing down onto the helpless pony’s head.

Glitterball could barely move. Having an axe swung so close to her body made her lock up with fear. She tried her best to get up, but she couldn’t budge an inch. The unicorn suddenly felt Applejack biting down on the tip of her tail. The orange mare pulled as hard as she could, dragging the motionless pony along the floor just as the ghost slammed the axe down in front of her head.

“Get up Glitter!” Applejack yelled as she nudged the unicorn with her head. Glitterball scrambled as her legs moved without the rest of her. She awkwardly ran backwards for a moment before correcting herself and bolting down the hallway. Rarity and Applejack followed her and ran as fast as they physically could. They turned to see the human running after them before disappearing from view. Taking this as a cue to run faster, the three mares quickly made a break for the door.

Glitterball quickly grabbed the door handle and threw open the door. As expected, it led into the hallway they first came through to get to this section of the house. The foyer was just down the end of the next hall.

Once the door was open, Applejack and Rarity rushed in while being closely followed by Glitterball. The rainbow haired unicorn glanced into the doorway as she was about to close the door, only to see an axe flying through the air towards her at rapid speeds.

“AH!” Glitter yelped in fright while slamming the door shut. She managed to close it just in time before the axe slammed into it with a crunch. The blade pierced the wood and stuck out the other side slightly, making the ponies’ hearts jump.

“Let’s get out of here!” Glitterball exclaimed frantically while running past the two mares. Applejack and Rarity quickly followed the fleeing unicorn on their way back to safety. The sooner they reached their friends, the better.

“Ughh…” Fluttershy groaned as she found herself waking up from a hazy slumber. She opened her eyes half way, only to discover that her vision was a blurry mess, along with her mind. Her head felt fuzzy, and she could barely remember what just happened.

As she tried to move her arm up to her head, she found that the limb was unable to move. The pegasus was unsure of how to react to this, she wasn’t even sure if she was entirely awake. While her vision gradually focused, she began feeling more clear sensations around her. The first thing she felt clear as day was how cold it was. Her body felt like it was being held up against something freezing cold.

With a shake of her head to clear her mind, Fluttershy finally came to her senses. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to their surroundings, when she suddenly realized that she was being suspended in the air by something.

“What the…?” She exclaimed in confusion while trying again to move her legs. Feeling something tightly restraining her arms, she finally looked over to see what the problem was and gasped as she noticed what was keeping her from moving her limbs.

Her arms and legs were tied with leather straps that held them in place. The straps were connected to what appeared to be one of the surgical tables that she had seen in the basement. It was at this moment that Fluttershy realized the severity of her situation. She was tied to a table that was standing at an angle in an unfamiliar part of the basement.

“Oh no…” The yellow mare squeaked fearfully as she tried to struggle against her bonds. Her arms and legs were spread apart, leaving her body hanging off of the table by them. The concentrated weight made the straps dig into her skin, causing a stinging pain to surge through her limbs.

Fluttershy whined sadly as she failed to budge an inch from her bindings. She darted her eyes around fearfully in an attempt at finding where she was. Although she was staring at the ceiling at an angle by default, she could move her unrestrained neck slightly to view the rest of the room.

She was in a room in the basement alright; the dull grey floors and wood walls told the pegasus as much. The only source of light in the room was a lantern placed on a nearby table. There were a few metal trays with various gruesome surgical implements on them nearby. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she looked at the sharp tools and imagined what torture they could bring about. Suddenly, her eyes drifted to the area in front of her, and she gasped in surprise at what she saw.

“*Gasp* Neon!” She called out as she saw the green mare. Neon Streak was tied to a table similar to hers. She was leaning at an angle, with her arms and legs bound by leather straps. Her tactical vest was removed, and a quick search revealed that it was sitting on one of the trays next to her table, seemingly missing no equipment.

“Ugh…” Suddenly, the green mare started to stir. Fluttershy’s face brightened up as she saw that her friend was ok. Most importantly, she wasn’t alone anymore. She could rely on the green mare to find a way out of this situation.

“Neon, are you ok?” Fluttershy asked in a concerned tone. Neon Streak looked up with a dazed expression. It looked like she was trying to figure out what was going on, just like the pegasus was a few moments ago.

“Wha…? F… Fluttershy?” Neon Streak asked in a sleepy tone.

“Thank goodness you’re awake…” Fluttershy said with a relieved smile. She hated the idea of being stuck in this situation by herself. Neon Streak looked around for a moment while slowly coming to her senses. As she regained her bearings, she suddenly became very alarmed as she realized what was happening.

“What’s going on?! Why are we tied up?!” The green mare asked while frantically trying to escape from the leather straps.

“I don’t know… I just woke up a little while before you.” Fluttershy explained nervously. The courage boost she received from her companion waking up was quickly removed as she looked around the room with a progressively worsening sense of fear. She could feel her body shivering and her heart racing.

Neon Streak heard the pegasus whining uneasily. She could see the timid pony darting her already wide eyes around as she tried to recoil further into the table to no avail. She felt bad for the nervous pegasus, and she also felt responsible for her safety.

“Hey… don’t worry. I’m sure Brimstoke and Pinkie Pie will find us in no time.” Neon suggested in a reassuring tone.

“R-really?” Fluttershy asked timidly. She could hardly form coherent words around her hyperventilating and shaking muscles.

“Yeah… we’re going to be fine.” Neon Streak replied with a sincere smile. Fluttershy could tell that she was just trying to comfort her, but it was working. At any rate, she needed it to work.

A sudden noise drew the two ponies’ attention to the side of the room. They heard footsteps coming from a dark doorway, but they weren’t pony footsteps. The light of the lantern didn’t project any further than the door, so the two were unsure of whether they should have been able to see the owner of the footsteps yet, but they were almost certain that they sounded close enough to already be in the room.

Without warning, a strange figure flickered into view as it stepped between the two trapped ponies. The figure was a human man with brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. His entire form was slightly transparent, giving him an eerie quality that made a chill run up the pair’s spines. He was wearing a grey vest with a black shirt with long sleeves underneath, along with brown pants and boots. The human was also wearing a pair of thin framed circular glasses.

“Eeep!” Fluttershy yelped in surprise while instinctively jumping backwards, even though she couldn’t move her body much. She tried her hardest to distance herself from the terrifying specter, but she did little more than move her neck and body a little ways to the side.

Even Neon Streak was a little startled by the sudden appearance of the human, but she was stunned into silence rather than scared silly. She glanced between Fluttershy and the ghostly apparition with an uncertain expression. She seemed like she didn’t know what to do, but for the moment she signaled for the pegasus to be quiet.

The human seemed to pay no mind to the timid mare’s outburst. He glanced to her briefly, eyeing her with his cold and calculating blue eyes before shrugging and looking ahead once more. He walked over to one of the metal trays full of cutting implements and deposited what appeared to be a bone saw. The harsh clang the saw made as it fell onto the metal tray and collided with the other tools made Fluttershy cringe uneasily.

“N-neon…” Fluttershy whispered fearfully. Neon Streak glanced to the ghostly human for a moment as he started fiddling with all of the tools on the tray.

“What is it?” The green mare replied quietly with what she hoped would be a reassuring expression.

“W-what is he going to d-do to us?” Fluttershy stammered nervously while staring at the human picking up cutting implements and examining them. Every tool that he picked up forced the pegasus to imagine what he could do to her with it.

“I don’t know… just stay calm and we-” Neon Streak started to comfort the timid mare, until she was interrupted by brief laughter coming from the human. The two ponies looked over to see the man’s shoulders shaking slightly from him laughing so much. Although he was laughing quietly, it still sounded cold and menacing, as if he were laughing at them.

“You two know that I can hear you right? So… what’s the point of whispering?” The man spoke up while turning around and leaning against the metal tray. He had a deeper voice, but still managed to sound softly outspoken. He had an almost intellectual air about him judging from the inflexions in his voice and his general appearance.

Neon Streak and Fluttershy froze up slightly from hearing the human talking to them. His voice sounded real enough. There was a barely audible distortion to it that one wouldn’t even be able to catch if they weren’t looking for it, but otherwise he sounded like a living creature. If it weren’t for his appearance, one would never be able to tell he was a ghost.

“And uh… what were you about to tell her?” He asked while glancing over to the green mare. “Just stay calm and we’ll be fine?” The human asked with a mocking smirk and a brief chuckle. The two ponies were unsure of whether or not they wanted to talk to the ghostly figure or not.

“What makes you think that you will be fine? Or… better yet… what makes you think you will be fine if you stay calm? Like I’m some kind of unstable bloodthirsty killing machine that will cut your head off if you look at me funny? Pff… don’t make me laugh.” The human said in a jesting tone while holding up a scalpel and flipping it in his hand. Somehow, the presence of a cutting implement and the cold and calculating stare he was giving the two ponies removed any lightheartedness from his statement.

“Ah… that would be funny.” He added before turning back around and fiddling with the tools again. “People may describe me as a bloodthirsty killing machine… but I like to think of myself as a sound minded and able bodied gentleman… what? No laughter? Aren’t you ponies supposed to be all about jokes and good times? Or so I’ve been told… that Raven Feather and her band of merry men aren’t exactly the picture of happy go lucky, but they talk an awful lot about how they hate your society… and quite frankly, I can see where they’re coming from.” The man said while returning his gaze to the two ponies. He moved in slightly closer to see if either of them would speak up. Neon Streak glared at the human uneasily, while Fluttershy whined uncomfortably and turned her head while flinching.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? Because I certainly don’t have it yet.” The human said in a matter of fact tone while glancing between the two. The two mares were unnerved by his statement, but they still decided to remain silent.

“Still nothing? You two were so eager to talk before you knew I was here… was it something I said?” He put on a fake frown before returning to a neutral expression and shrugging his shoulders. “Ah well… I guess we can cut the chit-chat and get right down to business then.” The man said in an almost sinister tone while walking up to Fluttershy. He still had the scalpel in his hand, which he held out and brought closer to the timid mare’s face.

“Ah!” Fluttershy yelped in fright and tried to move her head away, until the human reached up and steadied her with his other hand. His touch felt cold and icy, like he had been in a freezer for most of his life. The pegasus squealed in protest as the ghostly figure brought the scalpel closer to her face.

“Hey! Don’t touch her!” Neon Streak yelled forcefully at the human, making him pause and shift his eyes to the side. Fluttershy breathed heavily as she stared at the scalpel mere inches away from her skin. Suddenly, the man took the scalpel away as he turned around to face the green mare.

“Oh I get it… so it’s ok to give me the silent treatment until I’m about to cut up your friend… is that how we’re going to operate?” The man asked with a slight chuckle while stepping closer to Neon Streak. The earth pony gritted her teeth and glared at the ghostly figure as he walked up to her.

“You keep your dirty mitts off of her… you hear me?” Neon said in a threatening tone. Fluttershy couldn’t believe that the green mare was acting so brash in the face of danger, and she was doing it to protect her.

“Well, well… looks like you got a bit of a spark in you. I like that in a girl… even if we are different species and I am slightly… not living.” The human said with a small smirk before returning a serious expression to his face. He walked around to the side of Neon’s table and leaned against it. He then pointed to Fluttershy with his scalpel, making her gulp nervously.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t carve up your friend. Go on… I’m a homicidal mad man who wants to make you into bloody confetti for my next birthday bash… reason with me.” He said in a serious tone while putting the scalpel down and leaning in closer to the green mare.

Neon Streak moved her head to the side to distance herself from the human. She contemplated spitting in his face, but that would probably just go through him and make him angry. Still, she had no idea what she could say to make him leave Fluttershy alone.

“Come on… we’re waiting.” The man said while glancing over to Fluttershy and eyeing her menacingly.

“I… I…” Neon Streak stammered as her expression shifted to a concerned one. If she didn’t think of something to say, this ghost was going to make her watch as he tortured and killed the innocent pegasus. She glanced over to Fluttershy, who was offering a frightened expression back to her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t put on a reassuring face for her anymore.

“Well… I guess you’ve got nothing for me then… oh well.” The human shrugged before picking up the scalpel again and walking back over to Fluttershy. “I must say… I rather wanted to start with her anyway.” He added with a sinister chuckle. Fluttershy’s heart started pounding as she stared wide eyed at her approaching doom.

“Hey! If you want to cut someone, cut me you ethereal featherbrain!” Neon Streak yelled fiercely once more, causing the human to pause and think for a moment. Finally, he hummed curiously while turning around and walking back over to the green mare.

“I’ll tell you what… I’m in a playful mood tonight… so I think that I’ll play a game with you.” He said with a small smirk. Neon Streak was uneasy about what he meant, but at least he was leaving Fluttershy alone.

“What kind of game?” The green mare asked hesitantly.

“I’m going to cut something up here… that’s a given fact. But if you’re so intent on me letting your friend live, I have a proposition for you.” The human explained. “See… normally I just cut for enjoyment or to study the body of a living organism… but I very rarely torture my subject for very long unless I’m playing with them. I’m going to give you a choice… as I have with a few of my subjects… I’m going to cut you, and I’m going to keep cutting you. Each time I cut you, it will be more painful. I’m going to cut you a total of one hundred times… and if you can survive one hundred cuts, I’ll let you and your friend, go.” He finished his explanation and watched the earth pony for a response.

“What’s the catch?” Neon asked uneasily.

“Catch? There is no catch… just a few rules to start us off.” The human stated with a slight chuckle. “First off… and this is more of a rule for me… I will only use my scalpel throughout the course of the game. It allows me to make more precision incisions… get it? Precision incisions… eh, forget it. The second rule, is that at any time, if you do not want me to give you the next cut, she has to take it.” He explained while pointing to Fluttershy. The pegasus squeaked in fright at the implications of his statement.

“What?!” Neon Streak asked in a shocked tone. “I thought you said you would leave her alone if I did this!” She stated angrily.

“Hold your proverbial horses my little pony… I’m getting to that.” The man said while putting his hand on Neon’s shoulder. The icy cold and disgusting feeling that the green mare was getting made her scowl unhappily at the human.

“At any point, you can pass the buck to her so to speak. At that point, I will give her the cut I was about to give you, and I will continue cutting her until she tells me to stop, at which point I will return to you. I will keep passing between you until you have both sustained a combined total of one hundred cuts. If you refuse to receive a cut, I will cut her… but if you take all one hundred cuts… I will not touch her and I will let both of you go.” He explained while motioning out of the door with his hand.

Neon Streak glanced over to Fluttershy to get her opinion. The pegasus was looking at her with a fearful expression. She seemed hesitant to agree to let the green mare get hurt, but she didn’t want to be hurt either.

“And what happens if we don’t play this game?” Neon Streak asked uneasily.

“Well… then I will just do what I was going to do before. Cut both of you and study your insides until I’ve had my fill. The process will take a lot less time, and there is a high chance that both of you will die… but it will be comparatively less painful and there is also the chance that I will get bored with you and let you go anyway… but then again, maybe not. The question is, which option will you pick?” The human asked while staring at Neon Streak and waiting expectantly.

“Don’t do it Neon… it’s not worth getting tortured like that.” Fluttershy said with a pleading tone while shaking her head. There wasn’t really a favorable option here, but the less painful route seemed ideal for both of them if they were going to die anyway.

Neon Streak looked over to the nervous pegasus and frowned slightly. She thought back to the promise she had made her earlier. Perhaps if she had been more aware of her surroundings when they were captured, the timid pony wouldn’t be in this mess.

“I’ll do it… but you better keep your word if I win.” The green mare said while trying to be as threatening as possible.

“Oh I will… cross my heart and hope to- Well… maybe that expression isn’t the best choice in this case.” The human chuckled to himself before stepping in front of Neon Streak and leaning in close.

Neon tensed her muscles up and started sweating as the ghost brought the scalpel up to her face. She could feel her breathing intensify and her heart beating faster as he slowly and methodically brought it closer to her cheek.

“Tch!” The green mare cringed in pain as the human slid the blade of the scalpel down her cheek, leaving a small cut that barely trickled blood onto her face.

“That’s one…” The human said, as if to let the fact sink in that the mare had chosen a horrible option for herself.

Although the cut was painful, it was relatively tame compared to what she was expecting. Neon figured that it would get much more painful later on, but she at least had a while before that happened. The man looked around her body as he tried to figure out where to cut next.

“Let’s see… eenie… meenie … miney… here!” He yelled as he swiftly and abruptly stabbed the scalpel down and into the pony’s arm.

“AGGH!” Neon screamed in agony as she felt a mind numbing surge of pain hitting her. The human twisted the scalpel slightly before pulling it out, sending a spurt of blood out of her arm. Even though the cut was small due to the size of the scalpel, it was fairly deep, and incredibly painful.

“Neon!” Fluttershy yelled in shock as she watched the earth pony rocking her head around to deal with the pain. Before, she had been against the idea of the green mare getting hurt on her behalf, but now she was downright horrified by what was happening in front of her.

“HELP! SOMEPONY HELP US!” The pegasus turned her head and screamed out of the doorway. She hoped that her friends, or even one of the hooded ponies could hear her. She didn’t care who heard her as long as they came and rescued her and Neon from the psychopathic spirit.

“Don’t bother screaming for help… we’re far away from anyone who would be able to hear you.” The ghostly human said while pausing and turning to the pegasus with a cold glare. Fluttershy felt herself freezing fearfully as the man stared at her behind his glasses. Her lip was quivering and her eyes were watering, but she couldn’t find it in her to make another outcry. She was too frightened.

With the pegasus silenced for the time being, the human returned his attention to Neon Streak. The green mare’s painful whines and cries had died down, and were now mere groans of agony. She looked up to the man and his scalpel, and closed her eyes while looking away. She couldn’t bear to watch as he picked where to cut next.

The green mare felt the human placing the scalpel against her left thigh. Before she could react or even brace herself, he pressed into her flesh and dragged the scalpel down. Although it wasn’t very deep, he pulled the scalpel down the length of her leg clear down to her knee, sending a wave of pain through her that made another painful yelp escape her lips.

Neon breathed heavily as her shocked body tried to calm itself down. She slowly opened her eyes and looked down. As expected, there was a lengthy cut on her thigh that was bleeding profusely. She looked up to the ghost and scowled as best she could through her pain racked body and frightened exterior.

“Well… that’s three. I guess we’ve got a while to go… but don’t worry, I’m sure that we won’t be getting any interruptions.” The man said in a coldly serious tone while wiping the blood off of his scalpel. He then gripped the cutting implement tightly and prepared to continue his gruesome work on the green pony.