The Lair of Deadly Creatures (Open)

[Bellosh]

Among the many Nightmare Night venues set up near the center of Ponyville, possibly none stands as imposing as the temporary structure housing The Lair of Deadly Creatures. Appearing as a miniature decrepit castle covered in moss, lanterns planted in slots near the top give the “windows” an ominous red glare. Eerie blue flames mark the Lair’s entry way; a luminescent green-glowing hallway leading into a dark chamber inside. Flanking each side of the entrance are terrifying posters depicting some of Equestria’s most dreaded monsters; each one lunging towards passer-bys daring them to come inside the Lair and learn their secrets.

 

Those who dare enter the Lair of Deadly Creatures will find naught but a poorly-lit room; the only illumination coming from a bubbling caldron oozing with glowing slime over to the side. And in an unseen corner disguised by fake vines, a magically-powered fog machine generates a low-lying smoke effect adding to the otherworldly nature of the chamber. But perhaps the most brilliant touch of all is the magically-induced chill within the room, guaranteed to raise of hairs of most ponies venturing inside the Lair.

 

 

All of this was the brainchild of Ingrid Marie, magic counselor of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. The prestigious institution for magical learning would be hosting an edutainment event on Nightmare Night for the first time ever, using scares to teach visitors about some of the more poorly understood beasts of Equestria. Going all out in her role as half-speaker and half-performer, Ingrid dressed up as a classic-style witch. The unicorn clothed herself in a tall black pointed hat, a matching black dress and cape, and she dyed herself entirely in a sickly shade of green. To add an extra bit of authenticity, Ingrid even spoke in a higher-pitched screech than her usual vocal level, determined that she needed to be in-character for everything to work.

 

Counselor Marie wouldn’t be alone; several of the older unicorn students also came down to Ponyville to help erect the entire set-up. Most of those who remained to help run the Lair of Deadly Creatures dressed up too; in face-concealing robes where the only things that shined out were eyes… pale irisless eyes like those routinely seen in nasty dreams whenever a pony found themselves surrounded by unseen malevolent beings. Thanks to the miracle of contact lenses, such a dreadful vision could become a frightful reality.

 

The only unicorn volunteer not dressed up in an outright scary costume was the young mare Moondancer, outfitted in brown dirtied-up rags like she was Clover the Clever. She’d be playing an important secondary role; not only would the white unicorn usher guests towards the the cauldron, she would hang back in the shadows and cast illusions as needed… illusions she only got two weeks’ notice to prepare for. Moony would have refused such an outlandish request had not Immie promised a huge sum of cash as payment, which the ex-student took as a sign that her old mentor was really desperate to get an illusionist on time. Two weeks was simply not enough time in the slightest to even begin to adequately perform stage magic for audiences, but Moondancer took heart in that her mirages only needed to startle; NOT be artistic masterpieces.

 

Once night fell on Ponyville, the forbidding gates of the Lair opened to bid visitors inside. While Moondancer acted out as a cheezy sniveling minion leading ponies towards the bubbling cauldron, Ingrid the Witch hid in the shadows, waiting for the show to begin before revealing herself to the crowd with a flashy entrance.....

 

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RULES & OTHER INFO:

Spoiler

• Have fun!
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[Mojo]

Professor Clyde Krashkop

Taking his seat in the audience was a gray maned Pegasus stallion. Professor Clyde Krashkop wanted to see this event, since he heard that it was being operated by students of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and led by his dear friend Ingrid Marie. The elderly Pegasus stallion was in costume, dressed like the classic 'Scarepony' from the fictional novel "The Wizard of Dawn." He designed his outfit himself, straw sticking out of the old raggedy shirt and pants he wore along with the famous straw hat. His costume also had wing slots so he had full freedom of flight as well.

"I am very much looking forward to dis," Professor Krashkop said outloud. "I know mein dear colleague Ingrid Marie und her students vent to great effort to put dis together! I am so excited! I feel like a young colt again!"

So he waited, hoping there would be a full house for this event.

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro made his way over to the foreboding castle like building that he knew his school was operating. Many of his teachers had been giving announcements about the event at the end of class, so Pyro had decided to come check it out. Pyro took a seat in front of a stallion that was dressed as the Scarepony from "The Wizard of Dawn" before sweeping his hood off. Pyro leaned back in his seat, looking around at the room they were in. Pyro's costume consisted of a white cloak with fire along the edges, a fiery-looking suit of guard armor, which wasn't really guard armor, and a fake longsword strapped to his back. Pyro had also taken off his sunglasses for the night, adding his naturally red eyes to his costume. Pyro was wondering what the school had planned for the visitors to their attraction, but he didn't wonder for long when the stallion behind him spoke. Pyro leaned his head back until he could see the stallion before smiling. "So am I. I'm sure they did put lots of effort into this. I actually attend the school, so I've known about this pretty much since they came up with the idea. No idea what's going to happen though, guess we'll find out together. Anyways, I'm Pyro Blaze. How do you know Marie? Oh wait, I should probably get a name first. What's your name, sir?" Pyro said, raising his head back up and simply turning in his seat to face the stallion.

[Bellosh]

Once the audience was herded in front of the cauldron, an explosion of red smoke suddenly poofed loudly from the shadows right behind the bubbling black pot. Along with the smoke came the sound of laughter… a witch’s haunting laughter. As the smoke dissipated, the shape of a mean ole’ hag appeared, and boy did her twisted smile and gaze looked devious.

“Eh heh heh heh heh!” cackled Ingrid the Witch, her voice frightfully screeched in-character while rubbing her hooves in glee; “Welcome to the Lair of Deadly Creatures, my beauties! Be warned; this place is NOT for the faint of heart! If your feeble minds can’t withstand the terror of facing the most fearsome BEASTS that haunt Equestria, now is your last chance to leave! Otherwise…” the Witch glanced at the exit before leaning towards her captive audience; “There is no return.....!”

[RarityDash]

Dazzle Dawn was in Ponyville for Nightmare Night for one specific purpose. She was here to see this attraction her good buddy Moondancer had helped prepare with Ingrid Marie, a counselor at Dazzle's old school. Dancer and Dazzle went way back, and unlike Dazzle, Dancer was awesome at magic and stuff. She seemed so excited about the attraction too; Dazzle just could help but wanna go and see. Maybe she'd learn something too! It was supposed to educational as well as exciting.

Dazzle hadn't had time to go all out for the costume. She loved Nightmare Night as much as the next pony, but she had been shackled with so much studying lately at the university that she hadn't had time to partake in much of anything related to the by day this year. She had ultimately made a makeshift costume for the evening from a black pointed hat left behind by a treasured friend which resembled something a witch might wear, and a black scarf and leggings. It was a relatively simple, but it seemed to work for the holiday and also served to honor somepony she missed.

Not having ever really spent much time in Ponyville, Dazzle had gotten quite lost on her arrival, and was running pretty late. She was out of breath when she finally found Dancer's attraction, the Lair of Deadly Creatures. As she made her sudden entrance, she could only hope the fun hadn't started already!

"Dancer! Miss Immie! Dazzle's finally here for the fun event!" Dazzle cheerfully called, short of breath as she brought herself before the still fairly small group of ponies. "I can't wait to see what you have prepared for us! Bet it's gonna be awesome since Dancer has a hoof in it," she added, nodding.

​

[Mojo]

Though Professor Krashkop was a learned mind and scholar, he still scared easily, so when the 'show' began, the scarecrow costumed Pegasus stallion started to shake nervously. That eire voice! It sent chills up his spine! The special effects made him almost forget that it was a show. Seemed so real. It was only when the Professor adjusted his glasses that he could see the 'witch' at the black pot was his old friend Ingrid Marie.

"Dis show is very frightening so far," he commented to those who were around him, "I can't vait to see vhat's next!"

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro turned to face the cauldron as he heard a poof of smoke go off. Pyro smiled to himself at the cackling sounds coming from the smoke. Pyro watched as the smoke started to dissipate, leaving behind a mare dressed as a witch. Pyro watched the mare as she kept cackling and rubbing her hooves together. 'Faint of heart? Nope, I'm good.' Pyro thought as the witch started talking, telling them to leave now if they're leaving at all. Pyro smiled again. Pyro was no coward. If he started something, he was going to finish it, and this show was no exception. Pyro chuckled at the stallion saying the show was scary. "I'm sure it'll get much worse than a cackling witch and red smoke." Pyro said, glancing back at the stallion, who had never responded to his questions. Pyro shrugged that off and turned back to the show. "That makes two of us that can't wait." Pyro muttered, focusing on the witch.

[Bellosh]

Things looked good so far. Oddly enough, most of the patrons happened to be either magic school students, alumni, or teachers. At least Ingrid Marie felt comforted by the strong showing of school spirit here tonight. And it appeared even at this early juncture, she managed to give Krashkop a good scare with her routine alone… and Moondancer hadn’t even dished out the illusions yet. Now to continue with the show!

 

“Heh heh heh heh heh… guess you’re all braver than I thought,” chuckled the Witch; “Now feast your eyes on our first beastie!” That was Moondancer’s cue to rock and roll; while one of the younger students in the shadows magically caused the cauldron to violently produce a great obscuring steam, Moon conjured the first of her illusions for the event. It wouldn’t look life-life at all, but at least the audience would get to see clearly what the t was supposed to represent.

 

After a few seconds, the smoke cleared to reveal… a hazy transparent vision of a baby dragon with a round head, tiny fangs, and no wings. Per Immie’s instructions, the audience would first get to see how a young dragon looked like, and Moondancer based the youngster’s appearance off her old buddy Spike, who used to live in Canterlot. Moony actually wondered if they should have started out with a more terrifying image, but Immie reminded every volunteer helping her with the venue of the plan to make it both educational AND entertaining.

 

Of course, Ingrid the Witch anticipated that the crowd might be lulled by having a cute creature defy their expectations; “Hah! Not what you were expecting, now is it?” The grinning beige mare planned to give the crowd a few moments to let this realization sink in before making the next move.....

[Mojo]

"OH! Dis is so vonderba!" Professor Krashkop neighed, only now did it register in the 'nutty' Professor's mind that a pony nearby had addressed him with a greeting. "Hello dere, Pyro! Mein apologies for not answering you earlier! Mein name is Professor Clyde Krashkop, und I used to vork vith Ingrid Marie vhen I taught classes at Princess Celestia's School as vell as at Canterlot University. I am retired now, but I do love her magical vork! Just look at all dis! Is it not fantastic?"

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro smiled as the witch commented about them being brave. "Course I am. What kind of guard wouldn't be brave?" Pyro said under his breath as the cauldron produced an obscuring steam. As it cleared, an image of a young dragon was revealed. Pyro raised an eyebrow at the image. "I thought this was supposed to be scary. What's so scary about that dragon?" Pyro asked himself as the witch talked about it not being what they expected. Pyro grunted in agreement before turning back towards the Stallion that he had talked to before. Pyro listened to the stallion talk while keeping an eye on the show. "It's okay, it's not really a big deal. You used to work at the school with her? What did you teach?" Pyro asked, tilting his head a bit. Pyro smiled at Clyde's question, looking around at what Ingrid and the other ponies from the school had set up. "It is pretty nice. They must've worked hard on it." Pyro said, looking back at Clyde. Pyro was still watching the show with one eye, ready to switch the main source of his attention should something happen in the show.

[Bellosh]

 

With little exception, Ingrid the Witch noted that most of the audience expressed the desired emotion of bafflement. Too bad though that Ingrid’s old friend Clyde and one of the students distracted each other with conversation, but the next part would certainly spook the pair right off their hooves. “That’s right,” the Witch lectured; “Dragons in their natural state aren’t hideous at all, and are as capable of being good friends as the rest of you.”

 

“But if you give them a little of this…” Levitating a sack from the shadows and tipping it just enough for the audience to see a bunch of gems (all fake), Ingrid slowly dipped it into the cauldron. As the sack made contact with the bubbling contents of the pot, yet another great steam arose, hiding the image of Moondancer’s young dragon buddy. But when the vapor cleared out, the Witch was gone, and a fearsome roar rang out from the ceiling! There lurked a ghostly ferocious dragon, with wings spanning the room’s entire length and a cruel head full of avarice! Almost as soon as it appeared, the bellowing apparition swooped down, threatening to gobble the entire group or simply crush them. Thankfully for them, the ghostly image dissipated upon collision with the floor, but doubtless many ponies yelled from the sudden scare.

 

Ponies with an attention to detail however would have saw the dragon for the sub-par spell-created illusion it really was. Moondancer practiced all she could for two weeks, but she couldn’t get the effects down anywhere near perfect. Aside from the issues with the previous magic vision, she couldn’t get the dragon’s swooping “animation” to feel natural; the best she managed was a disjointed dive with various “skips” in the creature’s poses. Illusionary fire could have really sold the dive attack, but alas, creating a believable effect proved too much of a challenge for Moony, so she left that idea on the cutting room floor. A special pegasus volunteer replicated the dragon’s roar from the hidden ceiling, and while it certainly could instill terror, the pony had no idea of how authentic the noises were.

Needless to say, most of the audience probably wouldn’t know any better and approve of the delightful scare… probably.....

[RarityDash]

Dazzle stayed mostly quiet out of respect for her friend and former counselor. She just watched the spectacle excitedly. When Dancer made the baby dragon appear, Dazzle recognized it as that little dragon kid that used to live in Canterlot.

"Aww, cute," she started, excitedly, clapping her hooves.

Then, suddenly, the cute baby dragon transformed. It became much bigger and scarier. Well, actually, it wasn't a very convincing effect. You had to suspend disbelief pretty hard to make yourself believe it was real at least. Parts of it seemed kinda transparent and the movements were awkward. Dancer was trying her best though, and Dazzle wanted to support her. It's what friends did.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" she fake screamed. It was kind of flat, but she thought it sounded real. "That dragon. It is so terrifying. I am scared by its scary realistic scariness..." she added. Okay, so she was a terrible actor. Regardless, she was sure it'd help reassure Dancer. Probably.

​

[Mojo]

Now the Professor watched the show with a grand smile on his face. Yes, the elderly Pegasus stallion did notice the 'imperfections' of the dragon Moondancer's magic was displaying. The 'skips' were hard to ignore, but as a former educator himself, Professor Krashkop could not bring himself to be critical of any student's best efforts. So, he applauded and cheered, expressing his appreciation for all the team's efforts.

"Vonderba! Marvelous! Vell done!" he shouted, clapping his front hooves together before turning to Pyro to whisper, "do you not agree, Herr Pyro?"

[PyroBlaze]

Pyro turned his full attention back to the show as the dragon changed into a much more ferocious-looking one. Pyro watched the image as it flew down towards the crowd, looking very unnatural while doing it. 'If she had more time, I bet she could've done better. Oh well, that's what happens when you don't have time to prepare.' Pyro thought as he watched the image. 'That roar is pretty good though. I bet this would've been better with fire coming from the dragon's mouth. I could, but I probably shouldn't. Oh well, it'll have to do without fire.' Pyro thought, shrugging slightly. Pyro chuckled at the ponies that had actually screamed when the dragon swooped. "Either they just like to scream, they were just being nice and playing along, or they were genuinely scared by that thing." Pyro muttered before the professor started applauding the image. "A for effort I guess." Pyro muttered, clapping his front hooves as well. Pyro nodded when the professor whispered to him. "Considering the time constraint she had, yes, I think that was good." Pyro whispered back to the stallion before turning his attention back to the show.

[Bellosh]

Truth be told, Moondancer hadn’t been Ingrid Marie’s first choice to handle the heavy-duty stage magic work for the Lair of Deadly Creatures. The magic counselor’s initial plan called for enlisting somepony from the School who intended to master illusion spells and enter show business after graduation. But two weeks ago, Ingrid’s candidate dropped out to handle emergency family business, and no other illusionists could be called upon. And so, the instructor turned to her old pupil for help, who readily agreed to do what she could.

For someone who knew nothing about creating illusionary dragons a few weeks ago, Moondancer actually did a reasonably good job with it. At least, good enough to silence any potential hecklers. Satisfied, Ingrid the Witch stepped back towards the cauldron to go on with the show with her screechy old mare's voice; “Eh heh heh heh heh heh! *COUGH* *COUGH* Luckily for you my pretties, dragons are just fine eating gems… although that might be small comfort to any crystal ponies here tonight. But there are other deadly creatures who have no fear of you ponyfolk, and they live right HERE in the Everfree Forest…”

That was the signal for one volunteer in the shadows to fake a timberwolf howl. When she completed her cry, other volunteers hidden elsewhere on the chamber’s edges howled in response, as if an entire invisible pack surrounded the audience. The Witch let her volunteers cry out for a good ten seconds to provide the audience proper-buildup.....

[Mojo]

(ooc): This RP deserves a positive conclusion

Professor Krashkop sat through the entire performance, applauding and shouting words of appreciation for the excellent display of magic by the cast. The elderly Pegasus stallion even stayed after the show was over and walked backstage to shake the hoof of each of the cast members to congraduate them. He then saved his best words for his old friend, Ingrid Marie.

"All of dis vas simply vonderba, fraulein! You und your students are to be commended for dis spectatular show! Perhaps vhen you are finished here, vee could go to dee dance in dee town square together, ja? Dee night is still young, und dere is still more fun to be had"

(ooc): Thanks Randy, this was fun!