3286/Rarity's Scarousel Bootique

Rarity's Scarousel Bootique
Date of Scene:	28 October 2015
Location:	Equestria <KE>
Synopsis:	Rarity and Sweetie Belle (and special cameos!) hold a haunted house for Nightmare Night (Holloween!)
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Staren, 43, 136, 279, 385, 411, Mortimer Balman, Tomoyo Daidouji, 750, 857

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Rarity (136) has posed:
You know Rarity is dedicated to her idea when she's even managed to fight off her compulsive neatness to redecorate the exterior of the boutique to look run down and delapitated. Partially boarded up windows, torn and holey awnings, broken roof ornaments, overgrown vines crawling up the walls in places; even the carousel pony sign over the front door has been knocked askew and dirtied up with leaves and twigs.

Despite that, however, it's to the back door the guests are instructed to gather, for whatever reason Rarity may have. Maybe the shop itself is being saved for the final part of the tour? The only way to find out is to go through whatever the two sisters have planned for their little holiday event. A fake owl with light-up eyes is perched on the clothesline post, and somepony thought it would be amusing to even put up a rickety looking 'Abandon All Hope Who Enter Here' sign on one of the porch roof posts to indicate the starting point.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight is looking forward to experiencing whatever surprises Rarity and Sweetie Belle have planned. She has toned down her costume this year in that she is wearing a traditional witch's outfit. Pointy black hat with wide brim and a long black dress. This is partially to accomidate Owlowiscious, her pet owl who is riding on her back.

     "Oh dear! There is no hope!" Twilight giggles as she steps into the boutique with Staren at her side.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Given that she lives in Ponyville and is good friends with Rarity, you'd *think* that Yuna would be one of the first ponies in line to visit the haunted house.

But that would presume that Yuna likes getting scared out of her wits, which she actually doesn't. Eventually, though, she gets her nerves up and heads towards the boutique OF DOOM AND TERROR ... or is that 'of terror and doom'?

"I don't see why you're so nervous about it, Yuna," Elner points out as he flits along next to Yuna. "You've been to haunted houses before and you usually like them, right?"

"It's ... mixed," Yuna replies. The blonde-maned, white-coated unicorn is actually wearing what looks like the Equestrian version of an armored ballgown. Lighter on the armor and longer on the 'ballgown' part, mind you - like a princess who's capable of giving battle in her own defense, but knows she has knights and guards to protect her as well. "Although I guess the last time I went to a horror show, it was Yuri who blasted through the wall, not anything else ..."

"That only happened once, soon after you met her, right?"

Yuna's ears twitch a bit at the memory. "Yeah, but ... still."

"You're in *Ponyville*, Yuna, nothing bad is going to happen." And Elner vanishes before Yuna can say anything further.

Taking a deep breath, Yuna makes her way into the back of the boutique as well. "Hey Twilight, Staren. Any idea what we should expect ... ?"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo had heard time and again of Equestria, and how it shifted your form to better match the surroundings. Such a thing sounded like quite an experience! As such, here she is, as a purple Earth pony with fur matching her eyes and a long black mane and tail that curls towards the tips. Her cutie mark is a threaded sewing needle, with the long trailing thread coiled in and around itself to form musical notation. The needle itself forms the final, downward stroke on the clef.

    But, it is Halloween - er, Nightmare Night - and just showing up without a costume is not done! She's not made clothes for this kind of form before, so she decided to go with something simple. A plain white dress, deliberately made to look, old, grimy and torn. Her mane has a lot of gel in it, to make it look filthy and stiff, most of it hanging over her face. It might be lost on the locals, but Tomoyo has come dressed as the typical girl ghost from Japanese horror movies.

    But, this hairstyle, in conjunction with her new quadruped form, means Tomoyo bumped into a lot of stuff on her way to the haunted house. Eventually, she just swept her hair from one eye to make it safer. "Ooohhh, this looks wonderful~" she says upon arriving. "Hello everyone!"

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     No sooner had Elner said 'nothing bad is going to happen', then a puff of unnatural cold flowed through the door to the 'Scarousel'. A huge, looming figure. No, it only looks huge! A great, tattered, billowing and regal cloak, dyed a dark shade of purple. The silk was rotted and torn in many places, giving the look of something that had been left to decay for centuries without care, topped with black bird feathers and held closed with a clasp made from strange little skulls. Dusty, moldy armor made of beaten and worn bronze can be seen covering the torso and legs, bearing a sword that is jagged and rusty and bent, but one could imagine from the design and silvery trims that it could have belonged to a king when it was new and well taken care of. A similarly tattered hood covers a gaunt face that looks skeletal- it IS skeletal! Almost human but too long and narrow in the mouth, with bright red flames where eyes should rest, leading up to a cracked crown with thirteen points, plated with tarnished silver and dull, lifeless gemstones of all colors. The colossal skeletal creature leans upon a staff with a crooked top from which a glowing black orb that looks almost like an disembodied eye hangs, twitching and turning and staring emptily at the assembled Nightmare Nighters.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is dressed as a wizard, at least he has a matching dark red wizard hat, cape, gloves and boots with loosefittting white shirt and pants, and a knobbed staff. He's not a pony today, and his hair and fur are black.
    He walks up with Twilight, lifting his arm from around her as he looks up at the sign. "Rarity's read Dante's Inferno? Or is there a local book with a similar quotation here?"

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
Being a pony is enough of a costume for Maxine, it's been a while since she's been to Equestria after all. Work has been keeping her busy, but she does need to get out more. She smiles upon seeing the others, "I'm kind of surprised Rarity was willing to do this to her store. Is rundown in style right now?" She doesn't really keep tabs on fashion. "Good evening everyone."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is here but as Eisen the red headed and rather short gunner from GGO rather than her real form or Tomoe the Iron Lily. She was clad in omething that was a cross of high tech body armour and the lifts of the boots gave her a good several inches in hight but there were no visable weapons on her. She'd not come for trouble or to deal with it no Eisen had come to catch up with Rarity and hopefully pikc up an order from her then agian this could count as a lazy costume for the area ither way she was making for Rarity shop, it had just been a case of timing with what else was going on.

http://imgur.com/OPpvtOs Ref image for Eisen

Eve (857) has posed:
    This is Eve's first halloween. She is, of course, determined to do it right. For her, this means reading up on the celebration, learning of various customs, then doing what she thinks is the right thing. That the local version is called Nightmare Night is irrelevant. She's checked the local rules too, and so long as she doesn't violate local custom she doesn't see anything wrong with treating this like the more widely-known celebration.

    As to why THIS particular celebration, well, Yuna's here and Eve likes ponies. There's really no need to dig deeper. Yuna's pretty much Eve's favorite person in the Multiverse, which might account for Eve's costume. She's in human form herself, dressed up as Yuna in her light suit. A small version of Yuna, but very faithfully-executed. And no, she didn't share the idea with Yuna or think to ask permission. She was very careful to set this up as a surprise.

Staren has posed:
StarenStaren looks around only to see a lich. He stiffens and his tail goes all bushy. He steps back, almost bumping into Twilight, then adjusts the brim if his hat down so he doesn't have to look at that skull. "Nice job on the costume."

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Clouds hover over the boutique, floating above and around thet op of the carousel like large, whispy ghosts. Moonlight catches them just right, making them look spooky and ominous. It was almost as if someone had seen a bunch of spooky halloween movies and tried to copy from the look.

In fact, someone probably did. Someone with a slightly heavier bit-wallet.

As people start to gather at the back door of the boutique, a pair of eyes glimmer in the nearby bush, reflecting the moonlight that filters down from the sky above. Foliage ruffles, leaves rustling against each other. A barely audible giggle floats in creeply on the wind, but then is silent.

Then as the last of the group filters in to the back of the house, something LEAPS from the bush. A pony-sized creature, a wolf seemingly made out of leaves and twigs, LUNGES at the group. The ferocious timber wolf lands right next to them, emitting a massive ROAAAAR from its bark-like, wolven muzzle!

... But on a second glance, its body is less made up of twigs and leaves, and more that they're stuck on to a pony-shaped body. Bits of blue can be seen under the timber wolf mask, and it's a pretty good bet that timber wolves don't have spots of color in their tails.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    It seems that Rebound has been tagging along. An Earth Pony of standard brownish coloration with a blonde mane, she looks pretty much like you would imagine she would look like if she were a pony.

    Rebound has dressed like a mummy for her costume, but really it looks like she's just taken a bunch of ace bandages and wrapped them clumsily around herself with hooves she's not used to using. Still it gets the point across, and she slinks along with the rest of the crowd. Being a pony is weird.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle blinks at Maxine, then giggles. "Perhaps, but I suspect it is more that when Rarity does something, she commits to it. If she wishes to make a scary haunted house, she is going to put all her expertise to use." she says. Then, she notices that figure in the doorway. And she looks like she is uncertain that is just a costume. That skull, that smoke, that cold. It all seems very authentic. "Um...I..am sure no lich would have time to spend on a 'Scarousel'." she says to Staren.

     She forgets to greet the others who are arriving since she is looking at this creature. Then, that Timberwolf leaps out! "EEEEK!" Twilight actually jumps up in the air and lands on Staren, clinging to him. Owlowiscious just flies over to the 'timberwolf' and lands on her head. 'Who?' he says before sloooowly spinning his head around in that creepy 360-degree way owls do.

Rarity (136) has posed:
Did Rarity pay the weather team to make sure the night was spooky enough? Possibly. She could of afforded it, and be obsessive enough about 'atmosphere' to do so.

Timber-Dash's opening scare may or may not be a planned part of the show, but it certainly fits the moment. Rarity will probably be giddy to see so many arrivals and their costumes of a gauntlet of concepts when the time comes, too.

Doors creak open from hinges unoiled for weeks to get the appropriate eerie sound to them, leading into a back room of the building that doubles as a laundry room. If one squints in the darkness they might be able to make out both the magically powered modern washer and dryer off to one side, and an old fashioned ringer in a corner with cobwebs hung over it like a death shroud.

As the guests enter a faint green glow flickers to life from a corner, followed by a young voice that's speaking through one of those 'robot voice' toys. "Initializing Salutations Program." The light intensifies to reveal Sweetie Belle as she raises her head in a jerky fashion, with makeup of black bars down the sides of her face and lenses that make her eyes appear as solid green orbs. Her costume consisting of black bands around her elbows and knees and other joints to look like those of a robot.

"Welcome To Rarity's Scarousel Boutique... Where Every Surprise Is Creepy, Kooky, Mysterious and Spooky. o/~" Part of that line sounds vagely familar...

The exaggerated 'artifical' movement style continues as 'Sweetie Bot' turns and extends a foreleg, magic candle-lights igniting to illuminate a stairway to the second floor. "Please Proceed This Way. Pay No Mind To The Small Pony That Is Most Certainly Not A Robot In Denial."

Of course every few steps up the stairway squeak and creak ominously. At the top of the stairs is a hallway that follows the curve of the building's round shape, with lights above a door marked 'Haunted Ball'. It's probably Rarity's spacious master bedroom, but right now everything has been shoved aside to open up the space. A chandelier hangs overhead, but it's only partially lit, casting the large room in faint lights and lingering shadows at the edges, leaving no clue to what is actually in here while everyone gathers...

Staren has posed:
    "I know that," Staren mutters to Twilight, "It's just really creepy."
    Staren jumps back when the 'timberwolf' roars, but before he can comment he's holding Twilight! He grunts as he tries not to fall or drop her. People are heavy. "Nice... costume..." he grunts to Dash.
    And then the Scareousel opens! Staren looks at Sweetie curiously, wondering when she learned about robots, but he can't help cracking a smile at her act.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna meeps, quietly but *quite* audibly, at the looming figure of a ghostly king ... or something worse, she suspects. She would edge behind Staren if Twilight wasn't already there. She does manage, though, to nod hello to the other familiar faces, and actually grins sheepishly as she spots Eve in a smaller version of the Light Suit. And then -

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

Sudden timber-werewolf(pony) is the direct and undeniable cause of an earsplitting scream that accompanies Yuna's sudden leap as if she's trying to cling to a rafter for safety. Never mind whether there ARE visible rafters or not, the 'wolf's' sudden appearance sends her reaching for them anyway. She misses and lands flat on her belly, though, either groaning in pain or whimpering in fear. Judging by trying to cover her head with her arms, the latter is probably more likely.

She snaps out of it slowly, but surely, as Sweetie Bot 'powers up' and greets them. "Ah ... hi. Um, okay, thank you ..." She gets back to her feet, trying to dust herself off.

But she's going to let somebody *ELSE* climb the stairs first, thank you very much. So much for the battle-ready princess of her costume, huh?

Eve (857) has posed:
    It's likely not a good idea to startle a girl who's easily scared and whose body is literally a weapon. Eve lets out a small, terrified eep as Rainbow Dash launches herself in at close range, roaring. She doesn't immediately see that the figure is a pony covered in twigs. She just reacts.

    Axes. Many axes suddenly appear. Eve's arms turn into axes. Her hair forms into four axes, all of which raise defensively. Half a dozen axes in total raised to fend off the wooden horror.

    Fortunately, Eve is also *extremely* quick to analyze a situation. Both the lack of reaction from some, the amusement, the ... various bits of detail of the 'timber wolf' costume. It's all very obvious, and she doesn't leap to the attack. In fact Eve realizes very quickly what happens. Her hair falls back into its imitation-Yuna display, and she hides her axe-hands behind her sheepishly. You saw NOTHING!

    As things settle down, Eve dissolves her arm-axes and returns to entirely-normal little girl in Yuna cosplay. She looks at Sweetie Bot dubiously, not at all scared of this, but reluctant to advance. She'll probably end up hiding behind Yuna for a bit.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo looks over everyone's costumes with the critical eye of a tailor! No one has done a particularly bad job, but whomever showed up as that skeleton really outdid themselves! She stamps a hoof against the ground a few times in a gesture of faux-applause as they approach.

    "May I just say? All of you look wonderful in your costumes~" she says to everyone in a polite tone. It's quite exciting, she might know some of these people, and they wouldn't recognize each other as they are now! BUT SUDDENLY, TIMBERWOLF! Tomoyo yelps and flinches, hopping on the spot in surprise! But upon closer inspection... "Just a costume... oh you got us good~" she says, letting out a nervous giggle.

    And then the house opens! Tomoyo steps inside, and stares at the little robot, a slow smile creeping up her face. When everyone starts to move on, she leans close to Sweetie Belle and says, "That's an amazing costume and a wonderful performance, well done~" She doesn't want to ruin the atmosphere, but she deserved that compliment!

    And then, up the stairs she goes, stepping carefully. No doubt the stairs are quite sturdy, but those creaks are putting her on edge.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     The oversized skeletal lord cackles. It sounds vaguely familiar, but is obviously using some kind of voice disguising device. "Gwahahaha.. I am no LICH! I am Shuhaza the Never-Dying, King of the First Nation!" He slams the staff's end against the ground. A gaunt hand is put to its throat. The voice is suddenly Mortimer's. "Agh, this thing is a pain to move around in. But hey thanks, glad you kids like the costume!" Nettle's giggling voice is heard from the staff, she's probably the eye. "<Let's have fun~>" The timberwerepony makes 'Shuhaza' look over at Dash, adjusting its voice modulator again, and laughing a ragged, rattly, gasping laugh. "Lovely!" And then down at little Sweetie-Bot. "A fitting machination to join my legions!" Naturally, Sweetie will get affectionate fuzzles. "Let us see what further things await us further in this lair!"

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
"What is that?!" The normally calm Maxine is certainly surprised by the timberwolf until she can clearly see that it's Rainbow Dash. "Well, someone is certainly dressed for the occasion. Are there really wolves made of wood around here?" It wouldn't certainly be too surprising. Something does make her lose her cool as she sees Sweetie Belle's costume, "That's so adorable!" She can't help but to gently hug the foal.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight quickly enough recognizes that it is Rainbow Dash, and lets out a breath, then giggles. "You certainly did!" she agrees with Tomoyo. But, Yuna seems genuinely scared, so Twilight hops down from Staren and goes to help Yuna up. "Yuna! Are you alright?" she asks, concerned. Only to flinch again as 'Shuhaza' speaks. She giggles again when she realizes it is Mortimer, but wow! These two really worked on their costumes! Twilight makes her way inside, smiling at Sweetie Bot. "How very spooky!" she says excitedly before heading for the stairs.

     Then, Spike leaps out from the washer and lets out a thick gout of bright orange flames! Those flames seemingly threaten the group and the decorations, but Spike is careful not to burn anything. And Spike's costume? Well...just a green dragon with purple accents. But, those flames are real! Twilight yelps again and ends up running up the stairs a little faster than she meant to.

Tomoe has posed:
Eisen looks Sweetie Belle over for a moment grinning a little bit.

"Not a bad costume at all I have to say." 5R
She seemed to be in a good mood as she fell in with the rest.

"It's pretty impressive and spooky's far better than what goes for horror back home."

Just don't ask about western Horror movies on her world they are on a slasher kick /again/ which just doesn't sit well with Eisen She does however sneak up on Yuna gets a smirk on her face and goes

"BOO"

As she grabs Yuna's shoulder!

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
At first it looks like the timber wolf is going to lunge. It hesitates, and then... "Snrrrkkk." Its shoulders start to shake, and then with a WHUMP, it falls over flat on its back. The Timber Pony rolls and writhes, but it's not in pain. "BAAAHAHAH!" Rainbow Dash squeak-laughs hysterically. "The look on your faces! That was my best scare yet!"

Gulping for air, Rainbow struggles to get back up on her hooves. Now that she's out of the shadow and in the semi-light of the moon, the costume looks a little less like a wolf. "Oh yeah, so toootally worth it. What'd you think of my roar, pretty realistic, huh?" It's a good thing that Dash was laughing too hard a little bit ago to notice all those axes that were raised in her direction...

Dash joins the group, but her grin is still pretty clear underneath the timberwolf mask. Peeking in, she lets out a whistle. "Whoa, I just saw the outside earlier. I didn't know that Rarity went all out /inside/ too. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say this was actually kinda creepy."

Rebound (750) has posed:
    The timberwolf gets Rebound to jump when Dash comes out of nowhere. She soon catches herself and then realizes that thankfully Yuna went down and nobody noticed her.

    Moving into the building proper, they get introduced to 'Sweetie Bot' and she grins. Now that's a good costume. Maybe next year she'll come to Rarity and get herself a real costume.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"What do you mean 'if you didn't know any better'?" Yuna asks Dash. "It's supposed to be --"

'BOO'

It's less a scream this time than an impossibly high-pitched squeak as Yuna goes COMPLETELY stiff, then topples over all a-quiver courtesy of Tomoe catching her with her guard down. Granted, the general decor did a lot towards that, plus Spike's fiery contribution. But Eve is now unprotected, unless she hunkers down behind Yuna until the increasingly-unlikely princess gets herself together ... again.

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles a bit. "Nice costumes." He still doesn't look directly at The Undying's face.

    Staren heads in and jumps in surprise at the flames, but he can't be scared of Spike, smiling at the dragon. He approaches Sweetie Belle to whisper 'Great performance!'

Rarity (136) has posed:
Sweetie tries so adorably hard to stay in character as she's mane ruffled. "Do Not Rough Handle The Cutie Mark Aquisition Unit Or I Will Have TO DESTR--RRK!" Maxine's hug cuts her off though, and by the time she's recovered, everyone is hurrying along because of Spike's fiery jump-scare!

Sweetie smiles and gives the dragon a high-hoof before slipping off into the main shop.

Once everyone has gotten over their initial frights (or been coaxed along by others) and filters into the 'ballroom', a low haunting melody starts to play from the shadows of the room. The instrument is reconizable, so it's probably not that big of a shock when a dimmed light flashes to life to reveal Octavia playing her cello, while wearing a flashy cloak and a partial white facemask as 'The Windigo of the Opera'.

o/~ The time has come... to raise a fright... The time has come... for Nightmare Night.
The time has come... You heard me right...The time has come.. for Nightmare Night!o/~

And then a synthesizer set to sound like an old haunting pipe organ blares to life as the spot next to her is illuminated to reveal everyone's favorite pony DJ at the keys, dressed up in a steampunk pirate outfit possibly inspired by a certain real pirate she use to hang out with.

o/~ The time has come... to say goodnight... the time has come... for Nightmare Night.
So sing along.. you'll be alright... The time has come for Nightmare Night! o/~

As the two play their duet the chandelier lights fully, and the room comes to life! With ghosts! Dancing ghosts!

Actually the 'ghosts' are something Twilight, Dash and others may reconize as they dance around the room, because they're animated versions of the Mane 6's dresses from the first Grand Galloping Gala, floating about 'empty' to give them that phantom feel.

o/~ It's Nightmare Night! Tonight's the night! Everypony get down.. dressed up to get down.
Cause it's Nightmare Night! Time for a fright! You heard me right, it's Nightmare Night.

One ghostly costume bumps into Dash as it brushes by her... It's Rarity's costume from the flying contest, complete with a tinsle and paper mache replica of the wings!

Eventually the door behind them opens once more, this time floating candles lighting the way to the next room...

Eve (857) has posed:
    Fortunately for Eve, she's not really in position to be threatened by the flame... and a dragon smaller than she is doesn't exactly provoke the same reaction as a HUGE wooden menace besides. Also, though Eve is easily scared, the big problem is how she deals with that terror. She's really not one to curl up in a ball, unless it happens to be a ball covered in spikes. She is Action Nano Girl after all. And right now, she's feeling particularly sheepish and has no interest in hiding or cowering. Even if she'd rather be behind Yuna than standing in front and potentially embarrassing herself by overreacting again.

    When Eisen scares Yuna, Eve glares at the woman. From behind Yuna, after all, she was able to see everything. "Stop that." she suggests balefully. Then she goes to put a hand on Yuna's arm, offering to help her up. In this situation at least, SHE can be Yuna's protector.

    Inside the ballroom, Eve looks about in wonder. This isn't spooky at all. It's actually kind of neat. The supernatural doesn't scare the girl. Jump scares work, for a given value of work, but spooky just makes her curious.

Staren has posed:
    A haunted ball, huh? Staren rocks back and forth to the song, smiling, then after the 'ghosts' appear and there seem to be no more surprises in this room, Staren shifts to pony form and turns towards Twilight, extending a hoof to offer a dance!

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Mort's admittedly a little difficult to scare, especially by well. /Spike/. The flames in his eyes spark when he sees the little dragon surround them. Did the boy do that all by HIMSELF? That would be a magnificent development! "A mighty dragon?! Such wonders never cease in these foreign lands." The music makes him pause for a moment, curious and puzzled about what Rarity has up her sleeves (or in her saddlebags, he supposes) next. He does not notice that Staren seems pretty creeped out by his costume.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle seems quite enchanted by the music and atmosphere in the second room. It's so appropriate that it is charming! And the dresses are dancing on their own! Then...oh! A dance? Twilight giggles before taking Staren's hoof. They dance their way toward the door, and partway up the path until something else happens or the music stops. "Rarity has done a wonderful job here! So have Sweetie Belle and Spike!" Twilight says as they continue through the house.

     Yuna gets startled again, and Twilight offers a sympathetic smile. "Yuna, you are supposed to be having fun-scares. Not scared-scares. Try and relax, sweetie." she says. Then she looks at Staren and softly says, "Does Mortimer's costume bother you?"

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
"I can imagine this must have taken quite a while to set up." Maxine's pretty impressed with the decor. She hums along a bit with the music, it's one night she doesn't have to be all serious. "I'll have to show you some of Fundroid's robots sometime, Sweetie Belle. And yes, Yuna's there's no need to panic." It was a simple Halloween party after all.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Admittedly, Sweetie Belle trying to stay in character even under extreme duress (read: 'getting glomped by a friend') is kind of adorable, and that in turn helps Yuna pull herself back together. She doesn't have 'arms' at the moment, but Eve's assistance in getting to her feet is quite welcome.

By comparison to what's happened so far, the ballroom is downright relaxing; she's been to a number of Octavia's recitals, as well as Vinyl Scratch's concerts (to the extent that Yuna can handle the DJ's taste in music, at least; she's conclucded that dubstep is an acquired taste), and while the 'disembodied' ballgowns ARE kind of spooky, there's a piece of her mind which just marvels at how they're being made to dance like that. It's certainly not unicorn telekinesis, as far as she can tell, but she also knows all of the 'Mane Six' and knows they're alive and well, so those dresses CAN'T be possessed by their restless ghosts. "I'll be okay, Twilight," she whispers to the libraricorn with a sheepish grin. "Just ... kinda got front-loaded on the surprises."

As far as Mortimer's costume - well, now that she's had a chance to hear the voice(s) associated with the undead monarch, yeah, she can relax and appreciate it. Although Twilight was more asking Staren about that, it seems.

With the song and ghost-dance concluding, Yuna migrates to the next room, starting to relax and REALLY enjoy the fruits of Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's labors.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo lets out a cry of shock when Spike emerges and shoots flame. That certainly speeds up her trip up the stairs. She can't help but giggle a little as Yuna is startled, though she sounds a little on edge too. "It's okay~ Take some deep breaths."

    And then... the ballroom. As the music kicks in, the eyes under her stringy mane light up with delight, and she quietly begins to hum along with the two musicians. As the dresses begin to swoop about, she examines them critically, and comes to a single conclusion.

    "Those are some amazing dresses~ She must have put in so much work to do all this..."

Rebound (750) has posed:
    Rebound claps her hooves together at the performance, "Oh wow, you went all out for this!" She says, looking very happy at the show they're given. Maybe she'll have to see if the DJ has a CD she can buy after the haunted house is over or something.

    This whole thing has actually been super fun so far. She never gets to get out and just have fun anymore. She likes it.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Timber-Dash rolls her eyes, but grins at Yuna underneath the mask. "Rarity's idea of 'spooky' is if a dress gets a snag or something, so I pretty much expected just fabric thrown around or something." Dash clips her way into the boutique with the others, head turning from one way to the other. "But this is pretty cool. Kinda thought we'd just see Rarity pop up wearing her curlers; THOSE are creepy."

Dash startles at Spike's appearance. For a second, anyway. Then she rolls her eyes. "Come on, Spike. Don't you wear any other costume? You gotta spice it up some time, do something /really/ scary!"

Although it's hard to see Dash's expression under the mask, her eyes are alert as she glances around. "I guuuess the ghosty dresses are pretty spooky. But-Gah!"

Dash jumps away from the offending 'special' dress that bumps up against her, letting out a yell. SLIGHTLY more spooky, aparently. "Ugh." She narrows her eyes at the frilly, winged dress, and swats it away. "Very funny, Rarity!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren happily dances, though his ears splay a bit at Twilight's question. "Skeletons, at least, real-enough-looking ones, are creepy to look at. But isn't that the point?"

Rarity (136) has posed:
The next room is... hats? Full of hats, hats on stands, hats laid out on tables, lots and lots of hats. There's normal hats you'd see around Equestria like cowpony hats and the tophats and bowlers one might view adorned on Canterlot's elite. Then there's various styles of hats from around the Multiverse, which while a little odd by Pony standards... aren't really that creepy.

It's just a lot of hats, after all. In a room with a door at the other end.

Yet as the group gets about halfway through the room, a maniacal laugh rings out through the room. Suddenly the laughing form drops in to dangle upside-down! It's... DISCORD?!

Okay it's Pinkie Pie in a Discord costume, because who else would be able to actually suddenly appear like that from above without any visible or logical means of doing so? Don't think about it too hard, it's just how Pinkie rolls.

"Why hellooooo there~" Pinkie actually manages a decent, if more girly sounding, impersonation of the Spirit of Chaos, tapping her chin briefly. "But this won't do at all for Nightmare Night. Let's liven it up shall we?"

Discord-Pinkie claps plaw-glove clad hooves together, which triggers some enchantment in some of the hats as they suddenly POP open to reveal glowing eyes, or sharp (fake) teeth, and a few of the stands fall over to mimic the evil hats trying to pounce on people!

There's even a bowler cap that, being flipped over, starts bubbling out smoke and gooy slime like a cauldron. Be careful not to slip in that as you hurry out the door and down the stairs!

With Discord-Pinkie cackling the entire time. And picking up one of the hats to stick on her head, somehow staying there despite being upside down (because it's Pinkie Pie) as she disappears back up the way she came.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     'Shuhaza' pauses at the sudden appearance of DISC-no wait that's just Pinkie. Naturally it's Pinkie, who else in this land has such mastery over quantum linear superposition? And then suddenly HATS. HATS EVERYWHERE!? "Cursed apparel?! You threaten the crown?!" He raises his staff with a creaking noise, like musty old joints struggling against each other to lift, and then brings down the staff atop what appears to be some manner of vicious fedora. The 'eye' on his staff suddenly cracks open like an egg, and grows very /real/ teeth of its own. Black, jagged teeth that writhe and flex. The offending hat is bitten and chomped on, before being spat out. "<Ugh, tastes like /caterpillars/..>" Nettle can be heard complaining from her spot as the strange mystery eye-orb.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight smiles to Yuna as she seems to relax, Then, Staren confides in Twi about skeletons. She aws softly. "Well, yes, skeletons are supposed to be scary." she says. She would say more, but she doesn't want to embarrass Staren. Being afraid of skeletons isn't unreasonable, after all. And she was pretty scared when she first saw it.

     "Rarity put a lot of work into these dresses." Twilight confirms for Tomoyo. "Those dresses were some of the first that caught the attention of the Canterlot elite." Twilight explains. Then...hats! Lots of hats! And Discord! Twilight gasps in surprise as Discord appears. Even with it being a costume, Discord is enough to startle Twilight in just about any form. Then...the hats come alive! Twilight yelps and hops away from the nearest hat, only to get attacked by a hat rack! This leads to her running away for a few moments before she can get ahold of herself. She laughs, as Pinkie taught her when something is scary, then looks around at the others with nervous smile. "Well...at least they aren't trying to eat us." she says, still giggling a bit.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"YEEEEEEEK!!!" yelps Yuna, jumping about two feet in the air as the hats come to 'life' and start trying to .... well. Look threatening, for the most part. None of them actually go flying around to latch onto anyone's head as far as *she* can tell, though.

Which is a big part of what makes this part more 'fun-scary' than 'scary-scary,' as Twilight put it (more or less, anyway). She still canters down the aisle, trying to avoid any hats that don't stay on their racks -

Then plants her hoof RIGHT in the middle of the slime and goes sliding out the far door in an untidy tumble of legs. You don't hear her clattering down the stairs, though, so that's PROBABLY a good sign.

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve of course has no clue who Discord is. Consequently she sees a pony dressed up, mostly because by now she's looking for it. She tries hard to look undismayed. Again, spooky doesn't really bother her. She just startles easily.

    She probably puts a hat out of its misery when it 'pounces', but even so she just bats at it. When she bats at something, she literally bats at it. Just... don't mind the bat she's now sheepishly hiding behind her back. A few moments pushing it back into shape ought to revive it just fine.

    Is this fun? Well, Eve's not entirely sure. She definitely enjoys the chance to 'protect' Yuna, without question. So perhaps she would indeed consider this 'fun'. When Yunapony goes skidding, Eve peers down at the slimy stuff in dismay. "Yuna... are you dead?" she asks, not wanting to step in the stuff to check. Admittedly she's quite sure Yuna's not dead or even badly hurt, or she'd be running regardless of the slime. But... it doesn't hurt to ask first, right?

Tomoe has posed:
Eisen will do her best to help Yuna back up but shge can't help laughing a little bit then comes the flames okay that wasn't quite expect nor is the musical. The Poor dear has no idea about how people just bust out into song around here some times. It's just a cultral thing right he does seem to enjoy it. She does seem to be starteld a bit and the this house of horror clearly is not on a shoe string budget at all here. She looks to Eve as she gets a warning from Eve and makes an apologetic look. She's just not sure what ot think on Eve but she's not going to well try to pick a fight here.

Pinkie Pie on the other hand makes Eisen jump and feels some level of /terror/ at just what she's doing there she's not sure why but iut dfoes start to pass. Also there are so many hats she's just left a bit confused and now she looks to Yuna in concern okay maybe she was being way too mean with this.

"umm Yuna? Say something!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren bows dramatically at the end of the dance, then shifts back to his usual form. "I've heard of a Planet of Hats, but this is ridiculous..." he quips upon seeing the room. And then... DISCOR-- wait no that's Pinkie in a costume. Still, for an instant he's more than a bit freaked. Wait, what's she saying?

    MY LITTLE PONY: WHEN HATS ATTACK!

    Although he's sure they're harmless, reflexively, Staren deflects with his staff and jumps back when the hats /attack/ him, but he can't help laughing as he hears Mortimer's words and sees that it was just racks falling over. He starts to walk after the others, and then Yuna slips. "Yuna!" He runs that way, shifting to cat form and bounding around the slime and everyone's legs to check on her!

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo is a tad reluctant to leave the ballroom. It hits everything she likes! "Ooohhh, they're recycled... that does make more sense~ I can see why they would!"

    But, moving on. Ah, hats! "So she's a haberdasher too. Very multitalented~" She takes her time through the straight path, admiring each hat. And then, Pinkie from the roof! Tomoyo flinches in surprise, but the costume kind of goes over her head (get it?).

    And then the hats come to life, and that REALLY gets a reaction out of her! She screams, and makes a break for the door! "Not the hats!" Boy, priorities huh? When she hits the slime bubbling from the bowler hat, she slips! But, she applies her ice skating and skiing skills, and stays on her hooves, sliding into the next room quite elegantly~

    And then, of course, she checks on Yuna. "That was quite a fall! How are you feeling?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Would it be a good addition to the haunted house if I *was* dead?" Yuna jokes, carefully getting back to her feet, and testing the hoof that stepped in the slime to see if it's still too slick to be safe. "Sorry to make you all worry so much tonight ... it's been a while since I went to a haunted house."

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Luckily for Rainbow Dash, her costume doesn't seem to impede her flying. She just has twigs and stuff tied to her wings. She flares them out, and hovers along with the rest of the group out of the ballroom. "Uh, what's the deal with all the hats? Those aren't-" She stops though, as she almost flies right into-

"DISCORD!" ... Wait, no it's not. But Dash most certainly freaks out, hovering back into a fighting pose. That... lasts for all of a few seconds before she starts looking embarrassed. "... Uuuhh..." She hovers backwards from Pinkie Pie, trying to look non-chelante about it. "Pfft. I knew it wasn't Discord, totally wasn't scared." The pegasus readjusts her mask a little, a nervous grin showing under it. "Cool costume, Pinkie Pie!"

Oh, that's the deal with all the hats. Rainbow Dash raises a brow under her mask, hovering on past the hats. "Oohkaaay. Definitly going up on the spooky meter." And hovering keeps her from slipping on that green goop, thankfully. "Geeze Yuna, we know it's fall already!" She says, grinning as she hovers over Yuna to give the Unicorn a hoof up.

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
Maxine's vision is obscured as the smoke covers her glasses, she's forced to removed them for a moment and squints. She's unable to make out clearly what's going on. Though she's not really bothered by Pinkie-Discord, since she has no idea who's she's supposed to be begin with. She can hear someone fall though and cringes a bit that, "Is Yuna alright?"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve seems relieved Yuna's okay, despite her seemingly cavalier question. With tht worry out of the way, she can respond to the others. "Spooky?" she asks to the timberwolf Rainbow Dash. She looks thoughtful. "Is that what spooky is? Hm." she agrees uncertainly. Certainly it scared her less than the jump scare, but spooky and scary are quite different things.

    Delicately, the little blonde version of Yuna makes her way to the bigger ponified version of Yuna. "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you." she says in a not-exactly-inspiring monotone.

Rarity (136) has posed:
The stairway leads down to the main floor again, and from there into the actual shop area from one of the side doors. Much like the outside of the building the inside has been redecorated in creepy. Cobwebs, busted cabinet doors, and more dust than you know Rarity would allow to collect on a normal basis. The curtains on the windows are tattered and frayed, and the lack of strong lighting really gives the normally bright purple and pink colors of the boutique a dulled, haunting contrast. Helps that there's some faint music playing in the room, though it sounds slightly warped, like an old and broken toy music box would play.

The only thing that looks like it's been used recently is Rarity's work area, and even then the sewing machine has been messed up to look old and worn. Opal is sitting on it, looking more dour than usual because she's been stuffed into a black cat costume, because like heck would she let anyone -dye- her hair. She hisses as visitors start arriving, jumps down from the table and runs off into the shadows... which really isn't that unusual of demeanor for the snobby persain. It just doesn't make the setting any -less- creepy.

No sign of Rarity or even Sweetie Belle, but that's probably because the big finish is waiting for everyone to get into the room...

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     It's kinda hard for someone Mort's size to get down into these tiny pony-sized areas to begin with, doubly so when he's wearing constrictive armor that forces him into an increasingly hunched position. He looks less intimidating as a result- less the ancient corpse of a ruler from some distant all-but-forgotten land, and more a haggard old man who must lean on his staff for support lest he fall. FORESHADOWING. There's some popping sounds as he stands up a little straighter, once into the room..

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo sighs with relief when Yuna says she's okay. "It's okay~ Haunted houses are a social experience! Being worried about others is part of it." She scuffs her hooves to clear them of slime before trying the stairs! That's something you don't want to slip on.

    Into the store area proper! She looks around in quiet awe, soaking in the gloomy atmosphere. The careful lighting that makes the bright colors look faded, the worn-looking sewing machine (she really hopes that she was careful not to gum the insides!)... she's actually getting chills just from standing here!

    "Did you know she was so good at this kind of thing?..." she whispers to Dash and Twilight. There's no need to whisper, but she's almost scared that /something/ will hear.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Yuna had been trying to plan this, she might have suggested a glamour of some kind to make Opal *look* black-furred instead of either dyeing the fur or making up a costume. But she only barely thinks about that in actually taking in the redecorated shop. It's not so much 'scary' at this point, for her, as just generally creepy at a relatively low level.

... y'know. Compared to having pony-sized timberwolves leap out at you.

Staren has posed:
    Staren changes back next to Yuna, shaking his head. "No, it really wouldn't." he answers seriously. As they all make it back down to the first floor, Staren wows at the amount of work it must have taken. "All this for one night... Rarity and Sweetie Belle are really dedicated to Nightmare Night!" Also, he chuckles a little when he realizes Opal is wearing a cat costume. He wonders if it's a riff on Spike and his dragon costume?

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
Once Maxine's glasses clear up she puts them back on. Maxine isn't that large even when human, so size isn't really any issue for her. Of course she didn't have a chance to see where Rarity and Sweetie Belle went, so she's not quite sure what they might have planned next. She's a bit confused as she sees two Yunas though and adjusts her glasses a bit. Is there something wrong with her vision?

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Yuna is okay! That's good. If anyone should have slipped it should have been Twilight, but she avoided it somehow. When they get downstairs and see the seemingly abandoned shop. "Not specifically, but Rarity's talent is fashion and design. If she sets her mind to it, I am sure she could be good at any sort of fashion or decor option." she answers Tomoyo, also in a whisper.

     As Opal hisses and runs off, there is a flapping sound. Something flies through the darkness and lands on Opal's former perch, then slooowly turns its head until two huge yellow eyes are reflecting at the group. That is soon followed by the creepy percussive hoot of an owl. Twilight lets out an appreciative 'ooooh' at the atmosphere and decor. "It is rather spectacular that they would go to this much trouble for only a few nights of fun." she agrees. Then, she giggles a bit at Mortimer trying to make his way through the stairs and shop area.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"What, spooky?" Rainbow Dash says to Tomoyo as they enter the workshop. "Not really," Dash says, echoing Twilight. "She normally doesn't even like getting CLOSE to dirt. She can do scary pretty good though. Trust me; You don't want to see her in the middle of the night. Now THAT is freaky." Dash shudders a little bit at the memory.

Hooves click a little on the floor when Rainbow comes back down for a landing. As her wings close back up, twigs and leaves rustle a little bit. "Okay, I gotta admit. This IS pretty good."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "No Yuna, it would be pretty bad, you just don't take sudden shocks well I take it?"

She listens to some guild chatter and can't help but smile about it stuill this haunted house is getting more than a little creepy but then again it's not hitting Eisen's worst fears 3ell yet then agian who knows what awaits her. She keeps moving and looks at Opal and that was pretty darn creepy.

"So Yuna? Err Eve? I had no idea she was just this good with this..."

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve follows along, feeling a little chilled at all this. She doesn't understand spooky, but this room gets to her. It's just so... abandoned. It's spooky even if she doesn't understand the meaning. Unconsciously, she crowds in a bit more tightly to Yuna's flank. Scares she can handle. Frights she can fight. Creepy abandoned places, and a few other things... simply get to her.

Rarity (136) has posed:
As everyone is gathering in the boutique a clock goes off, chiming out twelve times for midnight. Not that it's actually midnight, but the witching hour is just more setting for the occasion.

During the last few gongs is when Rarity finally walks into the room, wearing a simple yet stylish black dress, or at least it would be if it didn't have frays and tatters to it. Her normally primmed mane has been messed up to look like one of her 'freak out' moments, and black streaks of ruined mascare marr her cheeks in the impression that she'd been crying. She's wearing her seamstress glasses, but one of the lenses has been cracked up... And if one looks close enough they might note that the measuring tape around her neck has actually been looped over and wound in a way that -could- maybe of been used as a noose...

But before anyone can ask just what she's suppose to be Rarity stops and makes a smile that is possibly the smile of someone not entirely there anymore, before slipping into, prehaps unsurprisingly considering the world, the start of another musical portion.

"o/~ Hello, how are you?.. Nice to meet you, are you new in town? Don't think I've seen you before.. It's great to see new faces around." The unicorn partially turns to make a sweeping motion with her foreleg. "What did you think of our little tour? Of our enchanted wonderland, new and improved, in haute canter!" Because horse puns.

Though the bad pun might be overshadowed by the doors, including the one leading out, slamming shut and audibly locking while Rarity's smile only gets more... shall we say, unhinged. "There's no escape.. but who would want to leave? This fantabulous paradise, and it's not make-believe!" She seems to pick at random, throwing a foreleg over Pony-Tomoyo's shoulders and pulling her close. "o/~ I'm so glad to *MAKE* new friends," that's a weird emphasis "No need to be aloof... You'll be one of us, so let me take you by the hoof..o/~"

Rarity (136) has posed:
Abruptly one of the battered looking storage cabinets bursts open and Sweetie 'Bot' jumps out of it, landing in front of the group. "o/~ But What is THAT I Spy? With My ROBOTIC EYE? o/~"" Somehow her jerky faux-robotic movement manages to be both cute and kind of scary as she stalks towards the group. "o/~ I THINK I See A Bit Of Flesh Inside The NEW Guys... Maybe They Aren't Everything That They Seem... o/~" She grabs a corner of Yuna's dress and gives it a light yet threatening tug. "o/~ TIME To Investigate.. What's UNDERNEATH Their SEAMS o/~"

Rarity snaps her head to the side, and a flash of her own magic yanks open the shutters to one of the display stages. As shadows roll away from the opening shutter it reveals the form of more ponies... First of Applebloom and Scootaloo in similar 'robopony' costumes as Sweetie, and then several pony manniquins (locally known as ponyquins), each one wearing an outfit that appears to be inspired by the rest of the Mane 6.

Or maybe they're suppose to look like they're made -from-, by the way the ponyquins eyes all start to glow red and eerily.

Which is kind of creepy with Dash and Twilight in the room, to say the least.

Doesn't help when the singing takes a off-tune twist to sound as if coming from the revealed dolls as 'AppleBot' and 'Cyberloo' step down to the floor.

"o/~ Let's try to make it right... don't want to start a fight.. o/~ And then the ponyquins also start to move their heads with the same jerky, uncanny valley motion. Though for Equestria its probably more badly enchanted than badly robotic. o/~ And we're so sorry if we gave you all a little fright... We're not so scary if you see us in the day light... You'll be so glad as long as you survive the night! o/~"

And then as they repeat the chorus the ponyquin dolls all jerkily move to step off their displays, like badly controlled puppets. Which only makes their unnatural movement and weird homage-like appearances a bit more unnerving.

A fashionista that looks like she's been through hell... haunted dolls made to look like her friends? And you people thought Pinkie Pie was bad when she snapped?

Rebound (750) has posed:
That poor cat. Rebound can only imagine how bad that poor cat must feel stuffed into that costume. She watches the cat scamper off, and then turns her attention to the sudden arrival of two more bots and the ponyquins.

    She actually takes af ew steps back as the manaquins all come to life. Now that is creepy, and she's pretty sure even stuff like that wouldn't even be possible in her world. She has no idea how it's being done, but it's scary as hell.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna has just gone very, *VERY* still by the time the song comes to an end. Maybe it's just not being quite sure how to react; maybe it's a matter of trying very hard not to reprise one of her earlier freak-outs. Or maybe she's just trying to figure out which way out of the shop is the fastest if push actually comes to shove.

Not that it's going to. After all, it's all make-believe, right? Just something extra-spooky to go with the Nightmare Night holiday ...

Besides. Rarity wouldn't ACTUALLY do that to anypony she knows.

... right?

Awfully convincing act, though ...

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Now THAT'S a surprise! A damn GOOD one! Mortimer stands in awe of all the effort Rares has put into this year's little Scarousel show of hers, even starts a bit when Sweetie Bot comes out and the other CMC are there in marionette form! "Ahh.. Astounding!" Nettle shuppets, cackling with glee, "<Yes, yes, wonderful, my dears~ Very lovely all of you!~>" There isn't much more for him to do than applaud after that showing.

Maxine Sandberg (279) has posed:
Maxine's not creeped at all by this. She works with robots for a living after all. Plus the foals are just too cute in their costumes to be scary. "So cute..." The scientist looks like she's suffered from a cuteness overload as she watches the show. It is all rather impressive.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Ah, and now the host arrives! Looking... very... hm. Tomoyo glances at her simplistic costume and feels a little bit ashamed in comparison. She really knocked it out of the park, combining her occupation with the whole theme in a chilling way.

    And then she begins to speak in a sing-song way. Tomoyo pays rapt attention, listening close... which only makes the sudden slamming of all the doors all the more startling, her tail standing on end for a moment. And then she is pulled close by the hostess! I-It's all an act right? She doesn't want to be rude by pulling away... but wow, is she creeped out right now.

    And now more little robots! Tomoyo would be pleased, if she wasn't trying to gingerly slip out from under Rarity's arm. And then... the mannequins. Tomoyo is not scared of such things, she works with them on a daily basis... but seeing them move around so jerkily, and so clearly based on actual people? That gets to her a little. She's trembling in her hooves!

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve has absolutely no clue what's going on. She's pretty sure this isn't supposed to be actually dangerous. Like, this is a friendly sort of party among friends, and the occasion is supposed to be 'spooky', whatever that means. Just, well, she's never actually experienced anything like this and isn't sure if she's supposed to assume it's all a joke, or to react as if there's a real threat. Humor, after all, is another thing she frequently doesn't 'get'.

    She doesn't, however, pop weapons out of her hands and start lashing out at zombies and ponyquins. So that's nice. She glances down at Yunapony, then up at those 'humans' and nonhumans who seem to be laughing and applauding, her pink eyes wide and probably a lot more wierded-out than she'd be comfortable admitting to.

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches with interest as Rarity arrives for the finale. The details of her costume don't go unnoticed, but he's not going to interrupt to comment. His eyes widen slightly as Rarity's monologue continues. He wonders if she has illusion spells set up to turn some of the guests /into/ robots?

    Staren's not that knowledgeable about magic, but he's impressed with the the work put into the show so far. And also with the premise. Rarity goes mad, animating dresses and turning her friends into robots? That is impressively dark. But also so unbelievable that he can safely enjoy the fantasy and spectacle.

    He holds his hands to his cheeks, dramatically. "Oh no! Twilight!" His voice lacks true emotion, instead containing only hammy, dramatic flair. He doesn't know how to act in the first place, so he's taking bad acting and running with it.

    Pretending to ignore that the real Twilight is standing /right next to him/, he walks up to the golem? meant to resemble her and holds his arms out dramatically. "What has she DONE to you??" Then he half-turns to the audience, holding his hand over his heart. "HOW can we still be toGETHer when your heart has been turned to STEEL and MAGIC?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe pauses as the clock hits midnight, well it's not really then but Eisen gets it. Well on some level now things seem to be going back into more mustical and Rarity appears She's now looking more than a little creeped by the pun or is it just what Rarity is up to? Thje song goes on as more and more of the locals working the haunted house She's ctually starting to get creeped out and it's not the robots no. Funny as the talk about what is under the seams comes up she starts thinking about just what she's currently made out of and then the dolls comming out? Okay that's a bit too much for Tomoe and she's actually looking down right spooked. She'll have very nice things to say about the staff on this but right now? Eve would be seeing Eisen getting a taste of her own medicine!

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight has to admit, Rarity really has her going. She rarely sees Rarity that dishevelled, and when she does it is never a playful or laughing matter. But, that is almost forgotten as Twilight starts out thinking 'Aww! The whole CMC is dressed as robots!' That thought quickly devolves into 'okay, that is kind of creepy' to 'Don't stampede..don't stampede..'

     When the ponyquins finally step off the stage, that is when Twilight actually steps back. "Th-that is..very realistic." she says. It is probably only her knowledge that magic is a tool and Rarity is her friend that keeps her from attempting to restrain the ponyquins. She ends up bumping into Rebound, which startles her and makes her jump away. She gives Rebound an apologetic look, then looks back to the stage.

     And then...Staren ruins the spooky mood by going all hammy. But for Twilight, the act is enough to put her on edge. She is still trusting that Rarity -hasn't- gone crazy and those -aren't- real flesh golems, but it is getting harder and harder to just trust in that. What if the boutique really has been hit with some kind of evil spell? What if Rarity really did go crazy when Sweetie Belle tried to redecorate?! Twilight is looking more and more nervous. "O-okay, Rarity. That is enough. Ha-..hahahaha! Very funny." That laugh in the middle is obviously nervous.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Suddenly, not far from Twilight, there is a skull. A big skull! Though now that it's so close to her she can see it's not an ACTUAL skull. It's obviously /plaster/, but lighting plus darkness plus spooky effects makes it look skully as hell. Mort calmly speaks, one of his eyes 'going out', "Hey. Relax. It's all in good fun." Of course he forgot to turn off the voice modulator, so he still sounds like the ancient Shahuza, and without good lighting all she'd see in the empty socket is a faint reflection of herself off of his lens.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Doubt lines Rainbow Dash's face underneath that mask. She watches as Rarity saunters out on stage, one ear quirked back. "That's it? That's her costume?" The pegasus flutters her wings, making twigs crackle against one another. "That's not even remotely scary; that's just her after a big... order..." She trails off when the song starts up, ears flicking up. Okay, now that was slightly creepy. Dash appears a little unsure of herself when the song goes on, and even the fillies get into it.

But what really gets Dash to back up a step and glance nervously towards the rest of the group, is when the Ponyquins start to move all of their own. "Er... Okay," Dash's voice sounds a little higher than usual. "That's totally getting up there on the creepy scale! Like, at least an 8!" From Dash? That's pretty high praise.

... At least until Staren leaps at the fake Twilight. Dash stares in disbelief, then looks over towards the real Twilight as if to ask 'Is he for real?'

Rarity (136) has posed:
Rarity lets Tomoyo slip away from her grasp, settling back on her hooves as she turns her head to give Twilight that unsettling expression she's been wearing... What did the humans call it? 'Stepford Smiler'? Something like that.

And Staren of all people is the one that gets in on the act. Which actually gets her and the Crusaders to stop and stare for a moment, as in disbelief. He's probably the last guest expected to do -that-... but at least it suits the moment!

It's enough of a surprise to snap them out of the song though.

Rarity does quickly get back into character, slinking up next to Staren. "If you want, you could... join her..." Behind her the Crusaders pull out scissors and thread as if to prepare to help.

But before THAT can proceed any farther there is a sudden *VLORP* as a glowing portal appears by the door, and who should jump through it but none other than Queen Luna herself! Clad in armor as dark as the night sky and holding a sword that looks as if it could be composed of moonlight with her magic. "Thy little ponies, thank yon stars I am not too late! Quickly!" She waves towards the portal with her sword. "Escape this nightmare, back to the world proper with ye all." And Luna gets in the act by dismissing her moonsword, grabbing Staren with her magic, and bellowing in full Royal Canterlot Voice "DOTH NOT FALL FOR HER TEMPTATIONS!" as she practically shoves Staren out the portal to the outside!

Wait. it's Nightmare Night and Luna is.. Playing the HERO?! WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?!?!
But outside, that is certainly safe. Well safe if you ignore that Pinkie Pie is still wearing her Discord costume while passing out candy bags, which gets its own share of odd looks... But considering what Nightmare Night was started for, why not dress up as one of the other crazy things the Harmony Knights have defeated, right?

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks worried, for a moment, that they indeed weren't prepared for this and he's ruined the moment. But he smiles as they recover. At Rarity's 'offer' he dramatically strokes his chin to indicate considering it...

    And then Luna shows up and throws him out the door. His last bit of acting is holding a hand dramatically out towards Robo-Twilight as he's pulled away.

    Outside, he looks to Pinkie Pie. "Okay, that was a really cool haunted house. How long have Rarity and the Crusaders and you been working on this?"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo backs well off from Rarity upon being released! Hopping from one hoof to the next, looking for a way out. When Staren gets way into it, she's so surprised that she doesn't even have time to romanticize such a sacrifice!

    And that's because Luna suddenly appears, and orders everyone out! In her current state, Tomoyo is too happy to oblige, sprinting towards it and tripping on her four legs to fall through!

    Taking a moment to lie on the ground outside to calm herself, she gets back to her feet. Sweeping her mane from her face, she has a massive grin on her face now! "Oh my goodness, that was amazing!" She's quite giddy as she accepts the bag of treats from Pinkie, and takes a moment to obsess over her costume.

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve doesn't stick around inside the 'haunted house', not when a magnificent royal pony is saying otherwise. A part of her mind, a part always active, files away Luna's midnight magic sword for future reference... but otherwise, the little blonde is quick to depart for the 'safety' of the outdoors.

    Once outside, Eve straightens her costume and does her best to look dignified. This is spoiled only by the introduction of Pinkie Pie and a bag of candy. It's hard to look dignified when you're peering into a big bag of candy, particularly if you're a kid with a sweet tooth.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle eeks softly as Mortimer speaks to her, then eeks again as that portal appears and.. "Queen Luna!" she says happily, then she quickly exits through the portal. Once outside, she catches up to Staren, then blinks as he talks about the haunted house. She looks confused a moment, then starts laughing. "Oh wow. I did not expect any of this! Rarity to make such an effective haunted house, you getting into the act! I was almost certain some new evil was unleashed on Equestria!"

     She takes a candy bag from Pinkie, then giggles again. "And to think that Luna agree to join in! She has certainly relaxed since she was first freed from exile." Then..Twilight pauses. "..wait...w-what if she hasn't relaxed?" She shakes her head quickly. "No, she was relaxed enough to try something like this her first Nightmare Night. This is certainly more extreme, but..." Twilight giggles. "I must congratulate Rarity and the CMC on their efforts!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is snapping out of it now as she looks to STaren for a moment and then peers over at Dash who actually sounds ruffled she can't think of a time she's heard Dash even sounding like that before.

"Tht was one heck of a haunted house I will certainly be back next year though Rarity I do hope my order's ready for pick up? Agian I have to say this was one of the best haunted houses I have ever been to."

Rebound (750) has posed:
"Oh man that was way better than any of the ones I ever went to as a kid!" Rebound says, as she seems excited to be out of the place, and yet she kinda wants to go back through, "Hey Rarity, next year you're totally making me a costume so I can go through this again. That was a blast!"

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     As the group 'flees' from the Scarousel, Mortimer stands up to his full height. And bumps his crown into the ceiling. "Of all the blasted.." Taking a moment to pluck it out, he puts it back on his head and approaches Luna, bowing before her once the others have left, on one knee with a fist planted to the ground, and adjusts his voice modulator. "Majesty. It is grand t'see yah out an' about again. When the Night draws to a close, I'll be hostin' somethin' of an after-hours party fer all the folk who've been contributin' to the festivities once the children have gone t'bed. I would be greatly honored if yah would attend as well. Good Night to yah, Majesty."

     Standing back up, much more carefully this time, he too departs through the portal. "Gwahahaha! That was right good fun, children! Alas and alack, but I must be on my way. Karian is no doubt wonderin' where I've been and gone, and the poor Wolf'll be havin' to handle the little contests I've set up by himself." A quick adjustment to his throat, his eye reignites and both of them flare out bright and burning as he looks down at them all. "Enjoy the rest of the Night! Gwahahahahahahahaa!"

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"Queen Luna!?" Rainbow Dash's jaw drops in surprise. She doesn't waste any time though following the Queen of the Night's orders. Dash's hooves clatter against the floor as she rushes out towards the portal. And then freedom, out into the open air again!

... And with it, the realization that it really was just all a haunted house. Dash screetches to a halt just a few feet outside the portal, quickly looking over her shoulder. Brows creasing together, she lets out a slightly annoyed knicker. "Okay, I gueeeess that puts it a bit higher on the creepy scale," She admits, back to her nonchelante attitude. Her tail lashes behind her as she grins. "I mean that whole moving ponykin stuff was seriously cool! Did you see the one made after me? It was totally the creepiest."

Rarity (136) has posed:
To answer that Pinkie Pie leans closer to Staren in 'conspiratorial whisper' style. "The -real- scary part is Rarity when she really fixates on an idea." Which doesn't really answer the question, but what do you expect from the resident kookoocloudlander? "And don't worry, the cupcakes are a-okay, they're only decorated to look like Baked Bads." Which may of just been an excuse for her to stuff one cupcake in her mouth to 'demonstrate'.

Rarity does briefly stick her head out the door and wave to her friends, and gives Pinkie Pie a knowing nod before slipping back inside to get ready for the next group to come through.

".. Oh... Oooooh." Pinkie Pie passes Tomoe a much larger package. "That's why your treat bag is so big!"