We stood in the small vestibule, none of us really wanting to be the first to poke a nose out and see what was making the eerie noises. I stood near the center, aiming my rifle out into the uncomfortably dark room beyond. Beside me, Mia wisely kept an eye on the stairway behind us. I was glad one of us had presence of mind, because I'd completely forgotten to cover our rear in my nervousness over the noises I'd heard in front.

"I'm taking a look," James finally hissed under his breath, the ARHUD making his whispered voice clear to all of us.

"Be careful," Rango said, close enough to hear without an ARHUD. "I don't like these sounds."

James sidled up to the edge and peeked out to the right, then the left, then straight up. "I don't see anything right here," he informed us momentarily. "But it smells like something died in here."

"Ahhhh," came the haunting reply.

"Definitely further out past the pillars," he said softly.

"Let's go check it out together?" Cadance suggested, suddenly sounding less sure of herself than usual. "Stay close."

Moving carefully over the packed dirt floor, I stayed near James, checking the sides while he scanned ahead. "I think something is on the other side of the foundation columns," he informed us, moving around it and towards another doorway on the other side. I could definitely smell the undertones of rotting flesh.

"Be careful," Cadance implored, wrinkling her nose.

"I intend to be," James said, leaning out to look into the next area. "Oh. What the... Eeew." James shone his light out into the massive dirt-floored room. "Well, that's not normal, is it?"

Rango peered out next to him, and Mia shone her light out as well.

In front of us was an eerie garden of glowing vase-like plants of varying heights, some reaching maybe eight or nine feet in height while others were mere inches tall. Their fleshy sides softly expanded and contracted, as if they were breathing. The sickly green luminescence flared and pulsed hypnotically with the movement. Waving tendrils extended from slimy-looking orifices at the top of each creature. A soft chorus of sighing sounds drifted towards us from the creepy growth.

"I'm starting to wish I brought my flamethrower," Cadance said softly. "These things aren't native to your country, are they?"

"No, never seen them before," Rango confirmed, staring apprehensively at the pulsating objects.

"They look like some kind of fungus..." I began, trailing off as a strangely-shaped glowing rat dragged by. On closer inspection, its back was infested with a plentiful growth of the disgusting plant-things in miniature.

"Ahh. Aaaaaahh, ah, ahhh," sighed the filthy little things in a tiny chorus.

"That's just plain wrong," Cadance said, frowning. "That's..." her voice faded as a sickly-looking cat stumbled past, also covered in breathing mushrooms. "Ahhhhhh!" they purred. "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Perturbed, I shone my light at the base of the big patch of things, and there lay the bony, melted remnants of what looked like cats, dogs, rodents, and other such creatures, partially buried in filthy, bubbling ooze that had filled the center of the basement floor.

"Where did they all come from?" I asked, my stomach knotting in disgust.

"Must be a hole in the foundation somewhere," Mia surmised. "Ugh. That's so gross."

"Why would they keep coming? There's so many."

"Don't you feel it?" Cadance asked.

"Wha-" I paused. "I feel..."

"Hungry?"

I shuddered involuntarily. "Y-yeah."

"Hungry for the fungus?"

"It's disgusting but... I kind of... I kind of want to eat it."

"I think that's how it's collected so many animals to grow on. It's using a pheromone or a telekinetic signal or something like that to make them want to consume it. It probably doesn't work so well on us because we're smarter, but we can still feel it."

"And when they eat it, it infects them." I looked out at the horrible medley of infested animals, the fungus sighing and glowing atop their bodies in festering clumps, and saw a rat scampering across the floor. It reached the vile cluster, and began to eagerly stuff its face. Slowly, tendrils reached out, gently tugging it in. It ate hungrily even as they closed on it, becoming one with the fungoid nightmare, so filled with greedy hunger that it didn't even try to fight as it was pulled in, desperately cramming pieces of glowing green muck down its dirty little gullet until it disappeared completely into the sludge.

"Are you eating it, or is it eating you?" Mia hummed. "One lick, is never enough of The Stuff!"

"What?" I asked, a little freaked out by the song.

"Oh, it's from an old horror movie. Seeing this mess just brought it to my mind."

"I see." I made a mental note never to watch this movie.

"Nerd," James commented with a half-grin.

"You'd understand if you saw it," Mia stated confidently. "Uh, by the way. That sighing. Do you think it's releasing spores? The atmosphere in here could be toxic, or infectious."

"I sure hope not." James backed up a bit. "They'd be everywhere."

"Hold on," Cadance said. "I'll check." She stepped up beside James and closed her eyes, sweeping a barely-visible pane of magic across the area in front of her.

"Um. Oh, gross, even scanning these things nauseates me." Cadance paused to make gagging noises before continuing. "At least it's not spores or pheromones. Well, no special ones, anyway. And I'm definitely feeling a low-level psionic field emanating from the growth. The hunger sensation comes from that. I'm pretty sure a creature that goes to such lengths to be eaten wouldn't have bothered if it could spread easily through spores, anyway."

"What about the weird noises they're making?" I asked.

"I think, and this is just a guess, that the unfortunate creatures they infest are slowly decaying or something, even though they're still moving around. See how melted they look? The plant-things are using the released decomposition gas for additional nourishment. That's why it barely smells like rot when they belch. They use most of it for energy. Otherwise this place should smell a hell of a lot worse than it does, even if it does smell pretty bad in here."

The more I thought about that, the more like puking I felt. I grimaced, smacking my lips uncomfortably against the gorge rising in my throat, made even more horrific by the simultaneous urge to rush over, dip in my hoof, and start shoveling the putrid, glowing fungoid slime into my mouth. "Can we, like-"

James interrupted me, putting a hand on my shoulder and pointing. "I think it knows we're here. Look!"

He was right. The sludge and bodies had started to ooze towards us. It was revolting, a shifting, squelching mess of slime and half-disintegrated yet still living animal parts that somehow moved in coordination to slide the disgusting mass in our direction.

"Oh, hell, let's go get my flamethrower," Cadance said decisively, backing away. "This is beyond gross."

"Don't have to tell me twice," I agreed, backing away and turning towards the stairs.

"Uh, guys?" Mia said as we approached the vestibule again, her voice quavering slightly. "I think we have a bigger problem."

"What?" I asked.

"There's something coming down the stairs."

"W-what?" I looked up where she indicated, and my breath caught in my throat.

Oozing down the stairs was a monstrous, gooey mass of shapeless glowing sludge, atop which numerous smaller versions of the fungoid tubules clustered and wheezed. The legs and appendages of absorbed creatures scrabbled about here and there, mostly doing nothing because the downstairs slant seemed to give the whole thing enough energy to move without their help. As it came, the blobbish entity explored the walls and hall with slimy tendrils, banishing any faint hopes that it was merely an overflow of simple filth. The rotten blob of living scum approached slowly, rolling stickily from step to step, and I had the distinct feeling our weapons would do little to deter it, although I wasn't going to give up without trying.

"What do we do?" Mia asked tightly. "It's behind us and in front of us."

"Try shooting it," I ordered, bringing my weapon up to my shoulder. James came up on my other side, giving me a little twinge of confidence.

Together the three of us fired a burst volley at the approaching gunk, the bullets streaking in on glowing trails of purple magic. Fortunately, the ARHUD active hearing protection kicked on and dampened the sound, or we probably would gone deaf in the narrow space. Unfortunately, it was a complete waste of ammo. Any minor damage we did disappeared into the relentless flow of deadly, glowing fungoid filth.

"Oh hell," James muttered as we all lowered our guns and retreated back from the vestibule. "This isn't going well."

Rango unplugged his fingers from his ears and peered at the approaching mass. "No good!"

"It's my fault," I groaned. "We should have swept the entire house before we came down here, or something. I don't know."

Mia looked around the room. "No need to assign blame. If we'd gone looking, that mess might have gotten us anyway. It could have been in the ceiling or the walls, just waiting to drop down and eat us alive." She glanced at Cadance. "Could you, I don't know, blast it with your Hasbro Princess magic or something?"

"I can try," Cadance said uncertainly. "Stand back, everyone!"

"Not too far back," James called out. "That shit is getting closer behind us too. I can see it coming around the pillar. Hurry up!"

"Okay, here goes." Cadance leaned forward and grit her teeth, her horn glowing blindingly. "Get back, filth!" she shouted, letting loose with a thundering blast of magical energy.

My ARHUD dimmed momentarily, protecting my eyes. When I could see again, there was a smoking hole several feet wide going all the way up the stairs.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Mia exclaimed. "So much cooler than Disney!"

"Uh, let's not celebrate too soon," I said unhappily, watching more slime flood the stairs. Within seconds, it had filled in from steps to ceiling again, leaving the hallway completely impassable.

"Ugh," Cadance groaned, putting a hoof on her forehead. "That magic burn took a lot out of me. How's it looking?"

"Not good," I said, a wave of fear washing over me as I watched the gooey mess slide toward us. "What else can we try?"

"Whatever you do, it better be quick," James warned. "We're running out of options."

"Go out into the basement," Mia suggested. "We can't get out if we stay here. Maybe we can find how the animals got in."

"Let's just hope it wasn't from the stairs," I muttered under my breath.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," she agreed. "But I'd rather not die in this little room, getting steamrolled from both sides by that awful stuff."

"Agreed. Do we have a path, James?"

"If we hug the right side and move fast, I think we can get around the goop. It's all heading around the left."
"Out of time!" Rango exclaimed. "Look!" He pointed frantically.

The sludge had reached the foot of the stairs.

Not having any better ideas, I quickly put a magic barrier over the doorway, keeping it in place while the flow backed up behind it. I could feel the pressure building on my forcefield. Already it was sucking at my magic reserves.

"That won't hold long. Let's go!" I urged.

"Follow me!" James struck out into the room.

I waited until the others had gone, backing away from the door.

"Let's go, Eris!" Mia ordered, just behind me.

"Okay! Go, go!" I shouted, dropping my barrier. The ooze rushed forward, and we ran behind the others. As we rounded the pillar, the basement sludge joined with the nasty mass from the stairs and the flow shifted, changing course to slowly pursue us.

"Ahhh!" sighed the nasty green polyp things riding on top of the rotting mass. "Ahhhh!"

With all the movement going on, the horrible reek of decay assailed us heavily, waves of nauseating, putrid vapor rolling over us. I gagged, my mouth filling with vomit. I spat it on the ground. "Ugh."

Beside me, Cadance choked and heaved, putting her head to the side. Somehow she managed to keep moving while puking her guts out, which impressed me.

"Look like we've bought ourselves a few minutes, at most," James grunted, leading us around the edge of the basement to avoid the huge mound of growth in the center, which was trying to move our way. "Fucking reeks in here."

"Bleaurgh!" Mia added, bending over and throwing up with her rifle held against her knees.

"I have an idea!" Rango exclaimed suddenly, diverting my attention from Mia's regurgitation. "Look for furnace!"

"The furnace?" Cadance asked, wiping puke from her own mouth.

"Yes. There should be a fire ruby chute nearby. If it's the old style, we should be able to climb out!"

"Fire-what?"

"Just look for a pile of glowing rocks!"

"Like that one?" James pointed towards the dim reaches ahead of us. Something in the depths gave off a ruddy luminescence.

"I think so. Yes, that's the furnace pile. Go quickly!"

Together we rushed across the floor, away from the expanding green glow behind us.

I looked back and saw it was still coming, then I slammed headfirst into Mia's butt, which had by this point become a common enough occurrence that it barely phased me or her, aside from almost knocking her over. Obviously we had other things to worry about.

"Why the sudden stop?" I asked after we both caught our balance again.

"Look," she hissed.

I peeked around her legs. "Oh," I said.

Skulking towards us were six very large, glowing dogs. "Ahhh!" sighed the nasty fungi atop them.

"They're growling," Mia said, raising her weapon.

I could hear it now, my ears flicking nervously back and forth. A low, phlegmy, wet rumble, a far cry from any growl I had heard before. I sidled up alongside Mia, watching the horribly disfigured animals stalk toward us. The glowing mounds of fungus pulsed nauseatingly on their backs, roots biting deep into the unhealthy flesh. Their eyes burned with a vile green glow as well, the terrible fungoid growth consuming them inside and out. I had a feeling that whatever these things were, there was very little dog left.

"I don't suppose this will work," James muttered.

"What?"

"Bad dog! Go home!" he shouted.

The approaching canines hesitated momentarily, then began to slink forward again. I was very aware of just how sharp their dripping fangs were.

"It was worth a try," James explained ruefully, aiming his rifle. "Ammo wasting it is, then."

"They're trying to flank us," Cadance growled, drawing her pistol and levitating it in her magic. "I've got the one in the middle."

"Fire together so they don't scatter," James instructed. "On three. One, two-"

I pulled the trigger on my targets, sending a rapid stream of bullets that easily felled the approaching beasts. So did my companions. At the same time, there was a massive flashing blast from nearby, and one of the dogs fell headless. Nothing remained in the air but a faint red mist.

"What the hay?" I asked. I looked around with wide eyes, and almost immediately saw Rango holding his giant revolver, a thin ribbon of smoke trailing out of the cavernous muzzle.

"Damn, that thing is a fucking cannon," James marvelled.

Rango popped the cylinder, managed to expel the expended cartridge with a deft flick of his finger, and dropped another enormous shell into its place, clicking it back into the weapon with care. "It has served me well over the years," he grinned.

"I would hope so."

"You look like Hellboy," Mia added.

"Who?" Rango asked, as perplexed as I was.

"Ahhhhhhh!" the amorphous slop sneaking up behind us replied.

"Fuck, I forgot about that," I gasped, looking over my shoulder in terror. "Oh crap, it's right behind us!"

"Incinerate!" Cadance shouted, wheeling around. An expanding semicircular wave of searing heat blasted forth from her horn, instantly blackening the closest edges of the flow. It quickly lost potency as it expanded, however it bought us several seconds to figuratively pick up our skirts and run while the inexorable mess behind us flowed over the burned patches. I could see Cadance was nearly done in from magic exhaustion, having already used two powerful spells within seconds of each other.

Thinking as quickly as I could manage as I pounded along, I decided to give something a try. "Let's cool things down," I hissed under my breath. I spun around and used a spell of my own.

"Icewall!"

My horn sucked heavily at me, demanding the power from my body. I could feel the familiar weakness of magic depletion setting in even as the spell shot forth from me, leaving a shimmering layer of intensely cold fog hanging curtain-like between us and the mass.

It struck the edge of the glittering mist and attempted to flow through, but the extreme cold slowed it to a crawl.

"Oh, now you're an ice princess," Mia cooed at me.

"Why did you guys stop? It won't last long! That cold dissipates quickly," I exclaimed.

"Because we're at the hole," Mia explained, waving her arm.

"Oh. So we are," I replied, feeling like an idiot.

The chute rose from a pile of oddly glowing red gemstones and went into the wall just above our heads. It looked uncomfortably narrow, but with the horror bubbling behind us, I didn't care.

And my spell was already dissipating.

"Get up the slot! We'll push you!" I ordered Cadance, her rank the farthest thing from my mind.

"But you guys-"

"Get UP there, NOW!" I shouted. "Just do it!"

"Okay! Okay!" Deciding not to argue with me, she scrambled up the pile of gently glowing gems and folded her wings.

Mia and James got on either side, boosting her upwards.

"Ugh," her voice echoed down. "This stupid thing opens inward..." There came some sounds of scrabbling, then several thumps followed by a distant clang. Cadance slid up the chute and disappeared.

"Send the next up!" she shouted down soon after.

"You." I pointed at Mia. "Go."

"You'd better be safe, Boss," Mia grumbled at me, shoving the butt of her rifle up the chute. It disappeared rapidly, Cadance no doubt grabbing it from above. She then placed her arms above her head and started pulling herself up. James and Rango boosted her, and with some minor effort, her legs disappeared from sight up the metal slide.

"Now you," I ordered James.

"I will not leav-"

"Shut up and get the hell up there!"

James frowned at me, then put his own rifle up. "See you on top," he growled, yanking himself up after it. "You'd better be careful!"

"Your turn," I told Rango while James kicked out of sight. "Climb up on my back."

"Come here, silly pony," he said, grabbing me forcibly in his huge, hairy arms.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" I exclaimed, more surprised than angry.

"You think you can push me up there? I step on you, I break your back. I get you out first. Getting me out will be harder, and my orders are protect you guys." He put my face into the chute, then put both his hands on my butt, pushing me upwards. "Grab her!"

Mia and James reached in and easily pulled me out by my forehooves, my small weight nothing to their exo-augmented strength.

"I think I may have a small problem," Rango called from below.

"What?"

All four of us clustered around the hole.

Rango looked up, his face pale. "I'm too big. I won't fit. You had better run!" His words were brave, but I could hear the fear in his voice, which made me admire his bravery even more.

He looked down. "You have to leave me. It-it's coming. It's so close now!"

"I am NOT leaving you down there," Cadance snarled. She looked exhausted. "Step aside, all of you!"

"What?" called up Rango's from below.

"Are you clear of the hole?"

"Yes. There's not much time. It's nearly here!"

Cadance grit her teeth, and with a scream of both pain and determination she fired a blinding blast of energy from her horn. It hit the rock foundations of the chute with a thud, the wild magic discharge tearing into the mortar and stone, shattering just enough to widen the hole.

Then she groaned and fell over sideways, landing with a painful thump on the flagstones.

"Rango!" I shouted, tearing my eyes away from Cadance's still form.

"Help!" he shouted, reaching up towards us. I could see the biomass directly behind him, the tendrils reaching out. "I don't want to die like this!"

"Ughhhh!" I grunted, projecting a barrier against the creature while simultaneously straining my telekinesis to lift his massive body. He was even heavier than I'd imagined, all those muscles and physique were not light. He had to weigh close to three hundred pounds, maybe more. My head pounded as he slowly levitated from the ground, his eyes fixed on mine. I could see the fear in them, and I didn't blame him. Nobody wants to die in such a horrible way as waited churning below him. "G-grab him when he gets close," I choked out, my body starting to shake from the excruciating effort of both maintaining the barrier and lifting Rango. Hurriedly, James and Mia took up places on either side of the hole, reaching down for his hands.

"Pull!" James shouted in a moment, and I strained myself to the utmost, my vision going dark around the edges. Vaguely, I heard his and Mia's exo suits straining to assist me.

"I'm out! I'm out!" Rango shouted elatedly soon after. My head was pounding and I couldn't see except for a small circle directly in front of me. Hearing we'd succeeded, I fell on my face, vomited heavily, and promptly blacked out.

I came to slowly, feeling my body swaying in a gentle, regular motion. I opened my eyes and saw James's face inches from mine.

"Hey, Boss," he said, grinning.

I realized he was carrying me hurriedly away from the house in his arms, towards our truck. Nearby, I saw Rango holding the still-groggy Cadance tucked in his own arms, moving beside us but taking quick glances over his shoulder.

"James, where is Mia?" I asked softly.

"Doing the honors," James answered. He stopped and turned. Behind us, Mia and Bessie were messing with a lit kerosene lantern. Finally they dropped it down the chute, then ran towards us.

"I dumped a bunch of the fuel down there," Mia panted, more from the excitement of our close shave than from exhaustion. Mia can run forever. She wears out treadmills. I kind of expected Bessie to be winded just from her size on the other hand, but she wasn't even breathing hard.

Mia pointed back. "Think those stones will-"

There came a WHOOMPH sound from within, and suddenly fire was visible, shooting out through the chute. Within seconds it was visible in the first floor windows as well.

"Fire rubies very powerful," Rango explained. "That big pile will burn very hot. Already go through floor. Ceiling next."

Whatever the creature was, it seemed to burn quite readily as well. An unearthly squeal echoed from within, rising above the crackling of the flames, and I envisioned every single one of those fungoid bulbs expanding and contracting in desperation, telling their host to-

One of the windows broke, and tendrils of fleshy ooze poked out, waving wildly as the fire danced atop them. Above, from the attic window, a similar protrusion thrust forth, thrashing about in panic as the fire consumed it.

"Just in time," James observed. "Who knows what it would have done next."

"Or how we would fight it if it had gotten out," I added.

"Too bad I didn't get a sample," Mia lamented. "But I guess I'll take getting out in one piece. This could have been a lot worse."

"Sorry about the house, Bessie," Rango said.

"'Tis a mercy," the large woman sighed. "I'd nary have brought an interested customer here ever again. Nobody would buy a house where such dreadful things have taken place, aye. Not to mention the horror inside." She shuddered. "If someone had moved in, that thing... Nay. This be a mercy. Let it burn to the ground."

"I, uh," Rango replied, looking distracted as he began slapping his pockets. "Oh, no." His face took on an expression of unimaginable chagrin.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Something terrible has happened! I lost my phone in there!"

I chuckled. "Don't worry. We'll fix you up."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Don't mention it, sir."

When the fire department showed up, Rango ordered them to stand down, and simply to watch that no other houses in the area burned down as well. Fortunately the large grounds of the mansion provided some buffer room, protecting the rest of the city from the intense funeral pyre that burned in the night.

In the courtyard we stood, staring up at the flames and at the thick, black smoke that rose into the sky as the monstrous, parasitic mass within roasted to death. Nearby, the firemen busied themselves by putting out small blazes in the surrounding garden, making sure the whole town didn't burn down thanks to our activities.

"Back on the clock," James said after awhile, his face flickering in the orange light.

"I'm sorry. I ruined our vacation. Again," I lamented.

Mia bopped me on the head. "It was my idea to come here, silly. You just agreed."

"Maybe I should have said no."

"Maybe that's my fault," Cadance interjected. "I promised I'd keep you safe, and for the second time, I've nearly botched that. We could have died in there."

"But we didn't. And by getting rid of that thing, maybe we saved other people from dying in a really bad way." Mia pointed out over the property grounds, to where other houses were visible. Many Silenians stood outside or at windows, gaping at the inferno. Children pointed, and servants paused in their duties to watch the mansion burn.

"They're all safe because we came here." She scratched me behind the ears. "I think we did okay."

Cadance nodded. "Perhaps."

"I think you're right," I agreed. "But Director Stephens and Chief Lewis are going to kill me when we get back."

James rolled his eyes. "Nobody is going to kill you. Yell at you, perhaps, but have you looked in a mirror lately? You're way too cute to kill."

I blushed. "I, uh... Thanks."

That night I lay awake for a while after the others were sleeping around me. It was super late when we finally made it back and cleaned up for bed, but I couldn't stop my racing mind. I thought I'd maybe have nightmares about the things I'd seen today, but instead, I kept seeing the image of myself standing in a restaurant door, reaching for Mia as she flew away from me into the night, wrapped in tentacles.

I sniffled a little, blinking back tears. It might seem odd that I'd be so sad nestled right up against Mia, but even though everything had turned out okay, that image still haunted me, the damage done to my soul as I felt everything torn away in an instant still ached like a bruised bone.

"Eris? Are you okay baby?" Mia asked me sleepily.

"Yes, I'm just thinking about things."

She kissed me gently on my forehead. "I'm always here for you, dear."

"Thank you. I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too."