House of Wax: A Spirited Revival (Fantasy, Lou, Zap)

[waxworks]

The long-standing and long-reaching hallways of Ponyville's intensely ominous and endlessly worrisome House of Wax sat in their perpetually shiftless gloom, ashen tendrils of dust and cobwebs swaying curiously in an unknown breeze. Every now and then a shadow would seem to uncomfortably shift from one location to another, and each hallway would seem slightly longer or shorter for it. The lights flickered, the carpets bunched, and spiders worked with such militant abandon that one would think a ball of vanilla cotton candy had exploded in the foyer.

From this deep silence came a sudden, horrific rasping sound, like a pipe organ exploding into a trashcan full of mice. The house held its breath for a moment, when another explosive, rasping sound tore through it, sending one particular shadow loose from its darkened corner and into the hallways.

"Siiiiiiiiis," moaned a small, barely-there pony. If it had been slightly darker he wouldn't have been anything more than a pair of eyes. "Sis? Is that you?"

From a storage room came another explosive blast of rasping and gasping, and the little pony looked in curiously. A loud, noisy approach was far from his sister's typical manner of entering a scene.

"Sis?"

"OaxachaGABLAFOO," yelled Waxworks, as mountains of dust and cobwebs blew off of her and the various strange things in the storage room. She sniffed slightly, accidentally inhaled a cobweb, and sneezed with twice the intensity. Cobblestone snickered and entered as far downwind of his sister's sneezes as possible.

"What are you doing? We've opened the doors again and there are going to be customers trotting in any second."

"AH! AAAAAH!" Said Waxworks, getting a good scream in when she could, "Ah! You're right, I KNOW you're right, of course you're right, but I can't find it! Quick, help me look! It's a round tin box full of film, I wanted it to be the centerpiece of our new fright-fest, but I can't find it anywhere."

"Ooo," said Cobblestone, sticking his face into a cardboard box helpfully, and coming up covered in numerous spiders, "you've got a scary movie to show?"

"Yes! And no! It's not a scary movie, it's a haunted movie! At least that's what the traveling pony merchant I bought it from on a stormy night said. But now I can't find it and it's just such perfect timing to break it out and I've got that old projector-"

"Well we can look for it more later," said Cobblestone, the spiders on his head happily migrating up to his jet-black ears, "right now we should go check the lobby to see if anypony's come in yet."

"I guess you're right," said Waxworks, putting down some of the boxes with a slight sigh, then eying the lobby of the house of wax. As the waxy white pony and her brother both vanished into the surrounding darkness, she repeated, "I'm certain we'll find it in due time."

The great yawning mouth hanging open, the doors of the House of Wax swayed preying in an unseen breeze. The great haunted house of Ponyville was once again open and eager for new customers.

[Deleted]

The off-white pony enjoyed the simple overcast that made ponyville's temperature pleasantly neutral. As he skipped along, he found all the hairs on his mane tingling and shivering. Turning his head slowly, his gaze was fixed upon Ponyville's own House of Wax^(tm)?. He had walked by in a multitude of times, and had the same feeling every single time. It was positively teeming with magic, he was just naturally attracted towards it! he could not help it at all. While looking at the house was very normal for him, he took a small step back in surprise when he saw the doors open, swaying softly in the careless breeze. This was new to him, he had seen the home, felt slightly unnerved and similarily excited by it in the past, but now? now it felt like he was being... invited, for lack of better term..

He shook his head, to confirm he was not daydreaming. A hoof raised and pushing aside some of his unruly mane. he could not help but put a Grin on his muzzle, as he felt the magic deep within. He stepped closer with this excitement in mind, but he caught his right hoof positively quaking and shivering. That did not step him from once more taking a step closer, only a hint of doubt in his mind. He decided to address said doubt vocally, for whatever reason. "mnnnghh. Why is it that i'll GLADLY run into and away from Hydras and Manticores, but a haunted house? N-n-nope..." he said to himself, his voice quivering too. He made a loud swallow, and reassured himself with the following. "C-Come on F-F-Fantasy, it C-can't be t-that bad!" the surprisingly deep voice spoke, a breath away from the carelessly swaying door.

The creamy white hoof reached the swaying doors and opened it further, the sound of consistent tapping sounding from the entrance. Was his hoof shaking that badly? yes. yes it was. He looked inside, an expression of Anxiety, Terror and yet Intrigue exuding from the ghastly blue eyes. "y-you're just.. r-riling y-yourself up here, F-Fantasy..." The earth pony continued, talking to himself in an attempt to calm the nerves. with these words, his fascination to see the magic inside finall overpowered his fear for the uncanny sights he might see.

He set his first step inside. Something shifted under his hoof. He took a sharp breath and lost balance, plunging forward a bit before lifting and firmly planting his hooves beside his head, only having tumbled forward somewhat. "Gazoodles, it w-was just your own Hoodie sleeves, Y-you moron..." he berated himself as he raised himself up on all four hooves, still quivering as his eyes naturally turned to observe the magical objects he could sense with his talent.

[waxworks]

(OoC: Don't worry Rapid, I'll be doing another House of Wax thread when you're ready just for that, but I decided to just have this one with Flicker.)

The House of Wax had an oddly maintained, upkept feel to it. It was a disturbing, worrisome sensation feel, because anyway anypony looked the house literally erupted with signs of wear and disuse. Spiderwebs swayed like fancy drapes, dust formed exotic patterns on the carpet cut through by whatever creatures skittered across it in the dark, hallways seemed to lean uncomfortably, as though they were liable to shift themselves at any moment to try to alleviate some terrible aching.

And the light. The light was the worst part of it all. There was light in the lobby that illuminated everything enough just so that you could make out what it was, but not clearly. There were entrances speckled throughout the lobby, one to a theater, one marked labyrinth, another marked train, another marked museum, but beyond those entrances there was barely anything to be seen beyond their yawning gaps.

But all of that gloom wasn't the bad thing about the light.

There were no torches. There were no lamps. There were no windows. Where in Equestria was that light coming from? It was like the horrible light that glows moments before a dramatic explosion, and it was the only thing keeping Fantasy Flicker company in that dreary lobby. That, and a painting on the wall that regarded him from its canvas eagerly.

Before the house could settle or the webs could sway a second time, a dramatic explosion of noise rained down from above the House of Wax, somewhere in the dimly lit alcoves high above the lobby. It came again and again, like the sound of a massive hammer driving trees into the ground, great splintering, smashing sounds that seemed to be moving from place to place in the ceiling, looking for purchase. And in between those sounds came a lighter, faster tap-tap-tapping, a shattering and a tapping, a shattering and a tapping. It almost seemed as though the smaller sound was being pursued by the larger as with each interval they took up one another's positions in the dark.

A sudden sharpness. A new echo. The frantic tap-tap-tapping was getting closer to the lobby now. Further in the distance another tremendous series of smashing noises, then more tap-tap-tappings, closer and closer now, and with their sudden arrival in the lobby came a spectral white pony with mad, blazing eyes, bursting through the doors of the museum and across the dust-covered carpet, hardly disturbing a single mote despite her speed and-

She froze.

In mid-gallop, having come alongside Fantasy Flicker, she froze in position, legs extended like she'd become a snapshot of herself mid-stride. Her head swung in a sharp, horribly unnatural angle towards the new pony. Her face displayed a mixture of surprise, delight, and absolute terror. After staring at the guest for just a moment she suddenly reversed directions in time with the newest shattering, explosive boom that seemed to be following her.

She threw herself across the room and, just as a bizarre red light seemed to be making its ways down through the recesses of the winding museum's pathway, slammed the doors of the museum exhibit shut, throwing her back across them. There was one final loud smashing sound inside, followed by a wailing moan of frustration.

The waxy white pony flashed a wide-eyed smile at Fantasy Flicker, the sort of smile you'd get if someone stuck hooves in your mouth and tried to pull your face into a 'proper smile'.

"Well hello," she cooed in a voice that tickled the lower strings of a badly tuned violin, "and welcome to the House of Wax!"

[Deleted]

The well maintained state of the house meant that as Fantasy Flicker tripped, fell and stood back up, the floorboards did not make a single creak, there was no dust to make him cough, wheeze and get dry eyes. No, it was all perfectly fine, which did more to unnerve him than please him. His eyes and his senses. the things just didn't align. He didn't feel or hear what he was seeing. With all the information disjointed like that, he was brought to a nervous sweating. Everything looked so... Worn, aged and ready to move or tear. But the floor, the air. it all felt clean and well kept.

The light that was present was weak and minimal, but the ponies' eyes somehow always managed to identify what he saw. He saw letters, not enough to make a word, but just enough for his mind to connect the letters into a word. The words found themselves above certain exits from the lobby. Entrances to other rooms. he mumbled himself a reply to every entrance he read. "Theater, no thanks. Labyrinth?! Damned-to-Tartarus no. Train? m-maybe. a-and finally... museum... Uh.. j-jeeze, i'm not really feeling any of these. b-but the magic remains fascinating..." he grunted in slight irritation as he'd have to decide what to do and where to go, eventually. at least, so he thought. Such would be logical, in his mind. His magical senses were getting used to this area, the magic he sensed in his surroundings slowly started fading.

His mind returning to using only his basic senses, he looked at the dimmed light, which let him just barely recognize everything. the darkness made him feel... small, like he had entered a gigantic room. The light let him see things, but it gave him no proper idea of what their distance was. and moreover, the light had no notable source. it came from seemingly nowhere, adding to it's eerie nature. was it magical? if it was, it would have to be very faint, because Fantasy could not sense it, atleast, not anymore. Maybe if he could meditate... he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but that only served to upset his nerves and make his spine shiver. "N-nope, nevermind, not closing my eyes here." He hurriedly whispered to himself, in quick but hushed tone.

It is then that the sounds kicked in. Fantasy froze up as the 'explosion' happened above him. Many sounds happened one after another, and Fantasy's overthinking paranoia overtook his mind. He huddled onto the floor and started shivering as a million different thoughts ran through his mind. 'this is just a house of horrors for the amusement! e-everything is just to scare me... b-but that didn't sound like it was on purpose... i-is everything alright? i-is somepony hurt?' he thought, cowering to himself on the floor while the paranoia rushed through his mind and the tapping of what seemed to be at the pace of ponies running hit his ears. 'others who are afraid? n-no... is it the owners? the owners running away from something dangerous? what do i do? what's happening?' were a final few thoughts to rush his mind before he resorted to internal screaming.

Another pony appeared, a series of unnatural movements meeting Fantasy as he cowered and his thoughts rushed, his magical sensing starting to pick up on small tidbits as time passed. It was clear they had a source, and it helped Fantasy ascertain the location of the source, although it did not help to calm his nerves much right now. Returning to full six senses luckily did not cost him much energy, but watching the white pony throw herself towards the door and say hello while baring the most unnerving smile and a tone that made your ears twitch in discomfort? Slightly sapping.

The only thing that Fantasy could utter in a situation like this was... "HelloNiceToMeetYouI'mNotScaredWitlessOrAnything WHAT WAS THAT CHASING YOU?!" in his most hurried tone, easily saying that all within the span of 3 seconds, possibly even within two seconds.

[Lou]

(OOC: Thanks for letting me join!)

He had passed by the house many, many times before on his way into and out of Ponyville while on weekend breaks. He'd never paid a whole lot of attention to it. While the sign did say it was a "House of Wax", Solar Burst had never seen anypony come in or out of it. Because it appeared to be terribly run-down, he just assumed that it was abandoned and left to rot. While that irritated him to some degree--shouldn't somepony come and tear it down, so it doesn't become a hazard?--the house wasn't currently bothering anypony, so he never mentioned his concerns to anypony else. Anypony else that could actually do something about it, that is.

It had gotten to the point that it was just a dark shape on his peripheral vision every time he passed by. He couldn't even be bothered enough to look at it directly anymore. It never changed, always there: a foreboding, unruly-looking old house that was just, well, there. On occasion he had seen a few school-age foals skitter past it at a wide berth, giggling nervously and shoving each other closer to it, like the house itself would haunt you if you touched it. Personally, Solar didn't believe in ghosts and all that nonsense, and always disregarded it as foalish silliness.

Today, however, was different.

As the pegasus made his way into Ponyville, something grabbed his attention. At first, he had no idea what it was. Something was off, perhaps out of place, something that wasn't there before. It bothered him so much that he stopped flying and just hung in the air, looking around with his brows knitted to try and figure out what the problem was. He had stopped a little ways after passing the house, and as he craned his neck around to look behind him, he froze.

The door was open. Not wide open, but open enough for the soft breeze to catch it every now and then and send it swaying back and forth. Open enough to be concerning. He didn't remember it having ever been open. It was ominous, to say the least.

Solar Burst reversed some and drifted down until he was hovering just outside the door, outside the small steps that led up to it. Given the state that the house was in, it was most likely unfit for ponies to be living in it and presented a serious hazard and perhaps even a code violation of some sort. He had no idea if somepony was actually living in it or not, or if some more foals thought it'd be funny to explore around in there without supervision. Either way, he was going to say something. He had to.

As he inched closer towards the open door, he cleared his throat and called out, "Hello? Is anypony in there?" His voice projected fairly easily through the house, both from his training in speech and because it was naturally commanding. Solar passed through the doorway and touched down just inside of it, his hooves clicking softly on the hardwood floor. He was squinting more than usual now as he folded his wings to his sides, trying to see through the gloom.

"If you are," he continued, snorting a little from the dust his wingbeats and hooves had kicked up, "I suggest you leave immediately. This house is terribly unsafe for any inhabitants whatsoever and violates several health codes, apart from the fact that it has a spider infestation on a horrific scale."

He took a couple steps forward as his eyes finally adjusted and froze mid-step when he saw the earth pony in the middle of the room and the ghastly white pony against the door. It was obvious she was hiding something, but Solar couldn't be bothered with that right now. His eyes widened in momentary surprise and his wings splayed out slightly, instinctively, and then he recovered. His face settled back into its usual scowl and he brought his hoof down sharply on the floor, making a loud rapping noise. 

"I'm interrupting something." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

[waxworks]

"It's not infested," said a small voice from the region of Solar Burst's right front hoof, as a small piece of the shadowy darkness detached itself from the entryway and trotted past him. "They live here," stressed the shadow, as several smaller shadows seemed to drop off of it, shoot accusing glances at the pegasus, and skitter off towards the walls.

"Welcome," shrieked Waxworks from across the room, grinning somewhat maniacally at the new guest, "to the House of-"

A sudden hammering blow struck the doors of the museum exhibit with such intensity that it nearly knocked the waxy-white pony's eyes clean out of her head. An eruption of noise and red light poured through a momentary crack between the doors before she'd managed to get them shut again, bracing herself against them.

She looked back and forth at the two new guests, flashing them both a wide, slightly predatory smile, "oh, that? That's nothing. We were just-"

For a brief moment she paused and her eyes glanced around the room so quickly that they may have genuinely been knocked free of her head.

"Playing! Playing... Hide and Seek!" She flashed a winning smile as she said this, and then gave the museum door a kick with one of her hooves, "but SOMEONE DOESN'T GET THE RULES YET."

This last comment was addressed to the door itself. From somewhere behind it there was a great venting sound, like a boiler breathing its last, and then the house sudden lay quiet, save for the nearly inaudible sound of thousands of teeny feet moving about unseen.

"Well. Then. Okay."

Waxworks spun around on one hoof like a poorly puppeteered marionette and advanced on her two guests. One trembling in a hoodie, one an officious pegasus, an interesting combination, but she'd never turn ANYPONY away from the House of Wax, there were things to see and do and be done and be seen that couldn't be undone or unseen.

"Welcome, I'm so glad you're here, so very glad, don't worry about that creaking noise, this old building has very good bones. I am Waxworks, and I will be your host through the haunted horrific hallways and deceptive dire doorways that eek our their existences every which way they can in the House of Wax."

The small bit of moving darkness from before cleared its throat.

"Oh, er," Waxworks frowned for a moment, pulling a face like she'd just noticed a very large pin cushion in one corner of her mouth that she was trying to dislodge through pure tongue movement, "before we continue..."

She bowed her head and swept out a hoof, gesturing to a small wooden box that a tiny, pitch-black pony was now holding in his mouth. There was a small slot for coins, and a message burned into the box which simply said: "Admission: 5 bits."

[Deleted]

Fantasy's frame, fear-filled and frozen... Relaxed itself for a chuckle as everything before him unfolded. The law-upholding pony? The fearless manager that was dealing with a very real monster? It was all.. rather funny to him. The confidence of Wax made it slightly easier for him to relax, especially as the mare mouthed off the monster as if it was anything else. Fantasy wasn't scared for monsters, he had shown the same steel nerves in the many situations he had been in. He was obviously curious as the issue at hand appeared to be a monster. His eyes ended up gazing around and the gloom and doom of the haunted home set in upon him again. he shivered and his form lost some of it's composure once more, although he wasn't frozen this time around.

"I thought it was pretty clear this is a haunted house for amusement purposes... Maybe i heard some rumors of the locals about it. Or read it somewhere." he said, his head aimed towards Solar Burst. His voice quivered slightly, but even then, he added the latter part to make sure he didn't insult Solar, not wanting to call him an idiot for missing some information. Wax works had introduced herself and Fantasy nodded towards her. He... wasn't sure if he was supposed to introduce himself as well, opting to keep silent on it as she was reminded of the admission fee. "a-ah. uhm. Just wondering. is there any chance i'll get to chat about the various things that occur within the house? i-i'm not actually that into it for the whole.. haunted house things.. but i can tell the presence of m-magic here..." Fantasy reached towards his bits, which were evidently somewhere in his hoodie-like attire, being willing to pay. He didn't pay -just- yet, but would hand in the bits right after Wax gave him some confirmation, assuming she did.

Looking around, his face was half stuck between a smile and a grimace, befitting that of somepony both intrigued and afraid at the same time. There were so many fascinating things here! He had high expectations to the quality of this place. He almost expected Wax to tell him of the 'best horror event in equestria, guaranteed!'. He wouldn't be surprised if this place was the scariest safe place you could spend your time. He almost seemed excited, and his ears shook a bit as he looked around, almost as if flapping slightly in intrigue. "I bet there's tonnes of magical things for me to think about and see inside..." he whispered to himself, audible if you listened, as his voice was unique in how obscenely present it was. Even his whispers made the rest of the world sound a little more silent to the normal pony's ear. It was one of many cursed blessings Fantasy had.

"Oh, right, will we be going through every part of the house, or is admission for just one part or? what's the plan?" he asked, looking at the different parts, praying if it was one not to his own choosing, that it wouldn't be labyrinth. He was horrible at labyrinths, perhaps even the most horrible pony around. Especially if their were spells involved. The thought made him curious, as he wondered if Solar Burst could see the amusement in a haunted house at all. Would he even pay the fee? Which door would he prefer? Would wax recommend any doors? The thoughts rushed his mind and it calmed him just a tiny bit. Seeing another pony helped him remind himself the place was here for amusement!

He however was reminded on how he tended to get other ponies lost too. Now he definitely hoped he wouldn't be in the labyrinth, especially not together with Solar Burst where he might get both of them super super lost.

[Lou]

"It's not infested."
Solar let out a soft snort of surprise and picked up his hoof as something detached itself from the shadows and trotted away. Something small, something that was speaking to him. "They live here." the shadow said again, and the stallion suddenly became aware that it was a pitch-black colt that was standing nearby. 

He regained his composure, and exhaled slowly, passing a wingtip over his eyes before answering. "Of course they do. That's part of the definition of 'infestation'. If they aren't actively causing damage to the property, they must be carrying at least some kind of disease with them. It's foolish to think that out of all these spiders, every single one of them is perfectly clea--" 

The pegasus didn't get to finish, as he was interrupted by a welcoming shriek from the white pony by the door. Seeing as she very much resembled a candle, he figured it was safe to assume that she was the owner of this, er...fine establishment. She didn't get to finish her welcome either, before a loud hammering noise struck against the doors she was in front of, enough to open them. There was a glimpse of red light before the doors were slammed shut again. The mare flashed both him and the other stallion a convincing smile and tried to play it off as a house-wide foalish game of hide-and-seek. The house--and whatever was behind the doors--fell silent, but none of this was convincing enough for Solar. He waited until she was finished with her spiel and even until he had paid his 5 bits, (Celestia knows where they had come from but they were there, and he tossed them at the colt with his wing (Of course he paid, after that thing behind the door, there was no way he was just going to leave and let these crazy ponies destroy themselves)) his face darkening with every passing minute into a truly angry look. Solar advanced towards Waxworks, his hoofsteps resounding around the entrance hall like small hammer strikes.

"What, in the name of Equestria, was that?" 

Before he could get a response, the other stallion spoke up. Actually, he had spoken up some time ago, the pegasus had just been too focused on other things to answer him right away. Unfortunately for him, now Solar had run out of cordiality and ended up snapping at him some in frustration. He spun around and stared at the earth pony, huffing.

"I know what it is, thank you. But a haunted house built solely for amusement purposes still has to be maintained and routinely inspected to make sure that it is still safe to run as a business, and it is quite apparent to me that this haunted house has not had any kind of inspection in many moons, if ever, and naturally things have gotten extremely out of hoof." After a pause, he sighed heavily and passed his wing over his eyes again. It was unbecoming to lose his composure like this in public, even if it was for a good reason.

He turned back towards Waxworks, the expression in his eyes echoing Fantasy's latest question. He too wondered what the plan was going to be.

[zap4th]

Tel had seen the house many times on his way to and from work. Sometimes he heard moans or the cooling of hooves coming from within the house. But today he saw 2 ponies, a male earth pony and a female pegasus, walk in. Interested he teleported to the fromy door and walked in. Seeing the "admission: 5 bits" sign he put 2 and 2 together and realized this was a haunted house, he teleported in some bits, tossed them into the container, and said, " so where to first? Oh, my name is trik port by the way, but you can call me tel. Who are all of you? Also," he directed this next part to the white pony, " may I say you look AMAZING!! Digging the candle look."

[waxworks]

Waxworks' head was neatly pivoting from pony to pony as they each spoke, although it was slightly worrisome that her body didn't seem to be putting any effort into turning. There was also a slightly squeaky, metallic sound as she did so.

"Gosh, so many excitable ponies all gathered together at once," she squeaked, her mouth in a hideous grin, her eyes showing incalculable, unspeakable delight, "first! The House of Wax wasn't built for me... it was an ooooold carriage house that I bought, and now I live here. Now I infest it. Oh I LIKE that word. Infest. It's the sort of word that puts things under your skin that just wriggle around when you're not looking. SECOND! Safety! I'll be leading you through some of our more atrocious exhibits for your fright, so there are a few house rules. Do not look into the Mirror of Perspective. If you see a pony at the end of a hallway, do not follow her. If you play hide and seek with the Great Oni Pony, realize that he does NOT get the whole "COUNT TO TEN" thing and-"

A thought snap-kicked Waxworks roughly in the head with such force that her head snapped clockwise a sharp 90 degrees with the sound of somepony crunching into fresh celery. "Oh. OH, did anypony else run out of the museum before I came out?"

"No," said Cobblestone, walking around the three ponies curiously. As he walked into the 'light', the little pitch-black pony truly appeared to only be a silhouette of a pony. Although he did have a surprisingly luxurious looking black mane that seemed to sway in one of the unseen breezes that moved about the structure. The mane then promptly dettached itself, skittered along the ground, and dispersed into several hundred black points which vanished back into the shadows. "Just these three."

"Oh," said the candle-pony, looking momentarily horrified and dismayed. Her face brightened in an instant, "I should've charged them admission before we played hide and seek... oh well. SO! Hmmmmm..."

The waxy white pony skittered around her three guests, looking over the proud pegasus, the excited unicorn, and the intrigued earth pony, in such a way that one would think she was measuring to see if they'd fit into some particularly small hole somewhere.

"Well then, let's begin our tour! Our grand theater-"

"Is flooded," commented Cobblestone, casting a shining eye towards a barred door that seemed to be weeping water from every crack.

"Oh, right right, we performed The Maelstrom last week, still waiting for it to die down. And once it does, we can look for survivors. THE TRAIN! Our fabulous train-"

"Is derailed," commented Cobblestone, frowning slightly, "I'm still not sure how that happened."

"Well you take a turn at eighty-nine miles per hour with everyone screaming and smashed against one side... that's just... physics. OUR MUSEUM! IS-"

Cobblestone simply eyed his sister.

"CURRENTLY OCCUPIED," she said, gritting her teeth. She grit them slightly too much. There was a worrisome grinding sound. "Well, don't you not fear, because there's always something in store, our lovely labyrinth full of langemann is all wound up and ready to go, you'll find we have a very expansive basement here at the House of Wax. If I ever meet the pony who dug it out, I'll thank him. And maybe show him where the surface is. Please, would you all follow me?"

She trotted towards the entrance of the labyrinth in a worrisomely mechanical manner. For all intensive purposes, she momentarily resembled footage of a pony walking backwards, played in reverse motion. The entrance of the labyrinth wasn't any less worrisome. It had the appearance of a shored-up mine-shaft that had smashed up into the main lobby of the House of Wax, and was now being overrun with the tendrils of various plants and vines which seemed to defy classification. There was a dim blue light further down the descent, and a rustling noise which, like everything else in the House of Wax, was worrisome.

[Deleted]

They had given no real confirmation to Fantasy's earlier question, but at the sound of the 'hide-and seek' spiel that wax started going on about, Fantasy decided to pay after all, with a smile. Solar burst noted the authorities, and Fantasy nodded in reply. "Are you personally the authority to contact for this? there's no need to attend yourself if you believe that is the issue you know. wouldn't you be better off contacting said authorities? Besides, the wooden floorboards are surprisingly silent, and feel sturdy, although they don't look it. I'm sure they have everything under control." He smiled towards Solar Burst, showing an air of optimism towards the entire situation. His head suddenly turned to the entrance though. "teleportation?" he spoke to himself in modest volume, even before the new unicorn headed inside. Teleportation was very rare magic, and easy to sense for Fantasy Flicker. Not that it was anything new to him, shamefully enough. Fantasy had enough personal information on it. A third pony entered, a unicorn, as fantasy expected from the teleportation magic he sensed outside. The unicorn paid the admission and gave his compliments to Wax. Fantasy blinked slightly, mentally commending the unicorn's boldness. However a slight suspicion grew in him. Not anypony could teleport... However his name and nickname did spell out teleport. If it was a talent, it was a unique one for sure.

His attention averted and his eyes followed Cobblestone and Wax as both of them circled the guests, each on their own turn. Fantasy blinked, focusing more on remembering the warning he was given by Wax. He wondered about the mirror of perspectives, honestly. Maybe it'd have a unique interaction with the curse he had on him? Once the two proprietors were done circling and seemingly evaluating their guests, they started about the variety of routes. With each of the routes mentioned, Cobblestone came with a quick and witty comment. Looks like he was the level headed one while the candle-themed pony was the crazy one. Fantasy turned his head to Solar Burst. "I take back everything i said and doubly agree on everything you said now. This place could use a check-up. Perhaps more than one. Perhaps more than a normal one too. I think this place needs a wizard, too." He mentioned with a sigh. He didn't have the wing to show the same expression of exasperation as Solar Burst, but the emotion resonated with him as strongly as it likely did with Solar Burst.

It was then mention arose of a labyrinth. The very moment it was mentioned, Fantasy froze. Had his mane been able to become even paler, it likely would have, alas, he was already just short from being as pale as Waxworks. His ears had definitly lowered themselves, though, but as they were already horizontal, they had lowered themself to actually pointing downwards now. He was not a fan of this idea, that was painfully obvious. "L-Labyrinth?" he uttered, in a slight hint of fear. It seemed like the only option at the time, so he didn't have much of a choice to his own chagrin. Considering his tendency to get lost though... 'Oh gee, this day just became much, much longer.' Was the thought to echo in his mind. Since he was not alone, He felt it only fair to give his companions a warning. "Right, just for starters. I'm what you might consider a professional at getting lost. Tip One, don't follow me no matter what, Tip Two, Don't be surprised when i disappear for the group, Tip three, Don't be an idiot and get yourself lost searching for me. Better yet, just don't search for me. I'll make it out. Somehow. eventually." he said with a deep sigh. he muttered to himself afterwards. "I'm super doomed." he spoke in whiny tone.