Applejack's POV

This was a bad idea.

A terrible idea.

A Pinkie Pie-level disaster waiting to happen.

And yet, here I was, sneakin' through the halls of a rundown, possibly haunted school building in the dead of night, searchin' for a dumb scavenger hunt item with Rainbow Dash, who was way too excited about all this.

"This place is so cool," Rainbow whispered as she kicked a broken piece of tile down the hallway.

I raised an eyebrow. "We're trespassin', Dash. Try to contain your excitement."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're just mad because I'm better at finding stuff than you."

I smirked. "Oh yeah? Then where's the next item?"

Rainbow stopped mid-step. "Uh... well..."

I crossed my arms. "Mhm. Thought so."

"Shut up."

Before I could tease her more, a loud crash echoed from down the hall.

We both froze.

"...What was that?" I whispered.

Rainbow's smirk faltered. "...Probably just the wind."

The wind.

In a building with no open windows.

I narrowed my eyes. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Another noise.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

My heart started poundin'. "Dash, I swear—"

Then—

A SHADOW moved at the end of the hallway.

Both of us yelped, grabbin' onto each other instantly.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Rainbow hissed, clutching my arm like her life depended on it.

I clung to her just as hard. "I don't know, but I don't like it!"

The shadow disappeared into one of the dark classrooms.

Silence.

Dead silence.

"...Okay," Rainbow muttered. "New plan. We go literally anywhere else."

I nodded way too fast. "Agreed."

We turned to bolt—

And slammed into a locked door.

Oh, come on.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Fluttershy weren't doing much better.

They had found an old notebook for the scavenger hunt, but Fluttershy was refusing to move because she "felt something watching them."

"I promise there's nothing there," Twilight groaned. "It's just your imagination."

Fluttershy whimpered, clutching her arms. "No... something is here..."

Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples. "Look, let's just find the last two items and—"

Then, all the lights went out.

Fluttershy screamed.

Twilight also screamed.

And somewhere far away, they heard Rarity screaming too.

"OH DEAR CELESTIA, SOMETHING TOUCHED ME!!!"

Chaos.

Absolute chaos.

Twilight grabbed Fluttershy's wrist. "We are leaving."

"But what about the scavenger hunt?!"

"SURVIVAL FIRST, WINNING SECOND!"

They bolted.

"Okay, okay, okay—" Rainbow paced in circles while I tried to jiggle the handle of the locked door. "So, just to recap: we're locked in an ancient, haunted school, possibly with an actual ghost, and no one knows where we are."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Sounds 'bout right."

Rainbow threw her hands up. "GREAT. JUST GREAT."

I leaned against the wall. "It ain't that bad."

She gaped at me. "Not that bad?! AJ, we are TRAPPED."

I smirked. "Oh, now you wanna leave? Thought you said this was 'so cool.'"

She groaned. "Okay, yes, I may have underestimated how creepy this place is."

I crossed my arms. "And what happened to 'I don't believe in ghosts'?"

She scowled. "I still don't—but if one did show up, I would totally fight it."

I laughed. "You cannot fight a ghost, Rainbow."

She smirked. "Bet I could."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't hide the amused smile.

Then, the temperature in the room dropped.

Rainbow stopped mid-step. "Uh... did it just get colder?"

I frowned. "Yeah... I think so."

A slow creaking sound echoed through the room.

We both turned.

The old filing cabinet in the corner had moved.

On. Its. Own.

I grabbed Rainbow's wrist immediately. "Nope. Nope. Nope. We are NOT doin' this."

Rainbow, for once, didn't argue. "Yep. Let's GO."

She yanked at the door handle. It didn't budge.

She groaned. "Come on!"

I glanced around the room, my heart still hammerin' in my chest. "Maybe there's another way out."

Rainbow kicked the wall. "Unless you know how to phase through solid objects, we're stuck!"

I took a deep breath. "There's gotta be somethin'..."

Then—

A faint whisper.

Both of us froze.

"...Did you hear that?" I whispered.

Rainbow nodded way too fast. "Yup. Sure did. Not liking it."

Another whisper.

This time... it said my name.

I swear my soul left my body.

"OH, WE ARE SO DONE—" Rainbow grabbed a chair and threw it at the door.

CRASH!

The lock snapped.

The door burst open.

We bolted.

The second we got outside, we collapsed onto the grass, pantin' like we just ran a marathon.

Pinkie Pie, who was somehow already outside, grinned. "You guys look like you saw a ghost!"

Rainbow and I simultaneously pointed at each other. "IT WAS HER FAULT."

Twilight, also out of breath, groaned. "I told you this was a bad idea."

Fluttershy clung to Rarity. "C-Can we never do this again?"

Rarity, dramatically wiping her forehead, sighed. "Agreed. This was the worst night of my life."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, I had fun!"

Twilight glared. "You got locked in a supply closet for twenty minutes."

Pinkie shrugged. "Yeah! It was cozy."

I shook my head. "Alright. Who actually won the scavenger hunt?"

Twilight checked the lists. "Well... Applejack and Rainbow technically got the most items before everything went wrong..."

Rainbow smirked. "HA! We win!"

Twilight continued. "...But since you both almost died, I'm calling it a draw."

Rainbow groaned. "What?!"

Twilight smirked. "Unless you wanna voluntarily do Truth or Dare..."

Applejack and I immediately shut up.

Pinkie cackled.

Rarity stretched dramatically. "Well, if we're done risking our lives, I suggest we all go get some milkshakes and pretend tonight never happened."

Everyone agreed.

As we walked off, Rainbow nudged me. "Y'know... you were pretty brave back there, AJ."

I smirked. "You grabbed onto me the second we saw somethin' move."

She scoffed. "Shut up."

I chuckled.

And just like that... the night didn't seem so bad after all.