Back in the resort, Rarity was still waiting in the security room with the others. The atmosphere in the dimly lit room was dull and dreary, though the ponies still felt a little unease from their surroundings. However bored or anxious they were, everyone felt one thing more intensely than anything else. Worry.
Ever since Glitterball had left them, they had been sitting with a thick feeling of worry in their guts. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t stop thinking about their friends and colleagues.
Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle sat off in one of the back corners of the room, with Rarity sitting nearby. The fillies were attempting to occupy themselves with idle chatter or perhaps a game or two, but it was clear to see how uneasy and concerned they were.
Berry Swirl and the others were gathered over by the security monitors on the left side of the room. Copper Coil was using the swivel chair and blankly flipping through the cameras around the floor. Spike stood nearby, watching the screens as well and trying not to think too hard about the potential danger his friends could be in.
“*Sigh*… I wonder what the others are doing?” Spike thought aloud, wanting to fill the silent void with some sort of conversation.
Rarity glanced over to the young dragon and flashed a reassuring, if a little hesitant, smile. “I’m sure they’re doing fine, Spike.” She said with a forced tone of confidence. She hoped the others were alright herself, but she couldn’t deny her own thoughts of concern.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo chimed in, more confident than most of the others in the room. “I’ll bet they’re already doing something to stop those ghosts.”
“I hope one of them doesn’t break in here before the others can take care of them.” Sweetie Belle fretted nervously.
Berry Swirl looked over at the group of fillies with a reassuring expression. “Don’t worry. Nothing is getting through that door.”
“But can’t ghosts walk through walls?” Applebloom asked hesitantly.
“Not while they are inside of an animatronic or one of those mascot suits.” Rarity ventured. “Every ghost we’ve seen down here has been inside something physical… Nothing is going to get us in here.” She offered the yellow filly a pat on the head to ease her fears.
Suddenly, a series of knocks came from the door at the front of the room. The abrupt break in silence in the otherwise quiet room was more than a little jarring to a majority of the group.
After their initial jump of fear, the children, along with everyone else in the room, turned to look at the door with varying emotions written on their faces. While the kids were unnerved by the sudden visitor, everyone else was mostly curious.
After a brief wait, a muffled voice came through the door. “Hey, open up! It’s us!” The voice requested impatiently. Everyone immediately recognized the owner of the voice to be Sunspot.
With smiles and excitement building on everyone’s faces, Rarity got up and rushed to the door. The others stopped what they were doing and went to gather around the white mare, eager to greet their friends.
Rarity quickly unlocked the door and opened it up. As the orange pegasus had claimed, everyone was standing outside and waiting in the hallway.
Twilight and the others had a somewhat disheveled appearance to them as if they had been rolling around in some dirty old cave. Some of them had minor cuts and bruises, indicating some sort of battle. If a fight had occurred, then the human at the back of the group had most likely healed anyone with severe injuries.
“Guys!” Rarity exclaimed while rushing forward and hugging the nearest pony, which happened to be Pinkie. Twilight and the other three mares gradually closed around the pair and joined in their embrace. “Thank goodness you’re all safe.” Rarity said with a relieved smile. She turned to see that Berry Swirl and the others had gathered out in the hallway and were greeting Sparkplug in the same way she had greeted her friends.
Berry Swirl briefly hugged the gray mare before pulling back. “You had us so worried Sparkplug!” She vented the overwhelming joy and relief she was feeling as she smiled at the earth pony.
“Sorry about that.” Sparkplug said with a slightly saddened expression. “I had to see things through to the end and help them out.”
Copper Coil chuckled warmly while the gray mare went up and hugged him along with High Tide and Silver Bell. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have it any other way.” The stallion said with a proud expression.
“So does that mean you guys got rid of the ghosts?” Scootaloo asked curiously.
Twilight and the others smiled as their friends looked to them with eager anticipation written all over their faces. “Yes, Scootaloo… we did. All of the ghosts are gone.” The purple mare stated with a joyful smile.
“So… we can finally leave?” Sweetie Belle asked with eagerness building inside of her. The others nodded in return. “Yes!” The young unicorn cheered.
Sweetie Belle turned to her two fellow crusaders and celebrated their freedom. The others couldn’t help but smile as they watched the fillies jumping up and down with joy. They felt like jumping around themselves, so they couldn’t blame the kids.
After giving the children some time to vent their happiness, the others felt that they would much rather celebrate upstairs. “Settle down, kids. I think it’s time we left this horrible place, don’t you agree?” Rarity asked curiously. The three fillies immediately stopped and turned to face the white mare.
“Right!” The trio stated in unison, still unable to stop grinning widely.
With unanimous agreement, the group started walking down the hallway toward the stairwell that would take them up.
Around the winding hallways and rooms, they went, still processing the fact that everything was back to normal. Their dark and eerie surroundings reminded them of where they were and what had happened to them in their previous journeys around the three floors of the old resort. They still felt like something was lurking in the darkness around them, though this illusion was quickly dispelled once they reached the stairs and climbed up to the second floor.
Near the landing of the stairs, a humanoid fox animatronic was sprawled out on the floor. Rarity, Applejack, and Silver Bell were extremely familiar with the red fox, and even though it was merely a lifeless shell, they stared at it warily as the group continued up.
All through the first floor, they continued finding the empty and lifeless husks that were formally animatronic hosts to the spirits that dwelled in the resort. It was a strange sight to see for the ponies, and they still felt a little uneasy to be walking over or around things that were trying to kill them all day.
As the group made their way to the lobby of the underground extension, Sunspot and Glimmer Shine lagged behind slightly. The pair let the rest of the group walk ahead of them so they could have some time to themselves.
Ever since their experience in the cave, the pegasus and the stallion had looked at each other in different light. Each was surprised by what the other had felt about past events, and each was surprised about what the other was willing to do to protect a friend.
Sunspot sighed as she tried to find a way to break the awkward silence. “So… are you mad at me for almost getting myself killed again?” She asked playfully while turning to the yellow pony.
Glimmer Shine chuckled briefly before falling silent and smiling. “Well, that was pretty stupid…” He said. Sunspot could only shrug and nod in agreement. “But I think I’m willing to let that one slide as long as you don’t do it again.” He added with a lighthearted expression.
Sunspot snorted through her nose while fighting an impish smirk off of her face. “Maybe I won’t need to do it again if you stop falling off of cliffs.”
“Ok, let’s not overdo it. I was just starting to feel something other than a desire to strangle you for once.” Glimmer Shine laughed, eliciting a hearty chuckle from the pegasus. He stared at her in silent contemplation before smiling. “I’ll tell you what… I’ll try to stop being so strict if you start trying to listen to me.”
Sunspot turned to see the stallion sticking a hoof out to her. She smiled and shook her head before grabbing his hoof and shaking it. “Deal.”
“And… I’m serious about that Sunspot. I’m going to get gray hairs if you keep running off into danger.” Glimmer Shine pleaded.
“I don’t know… I think you might look better in gray.” Sunspot replied with a smirk.
Glitterball glanced behind her as she walked. She smiled as she saw her two teammates chatting and smiling amongst themselves. Whatever conflict had arisen between them seemed to have been resolved amicably, and she was glad to see them treating each other like friends again.
After a few more minutes of walking, the group reached the lobby of the extension to the resort. The stairs that led them down to this dark and sinister place were just ahead. With eager expressions, they continued forward and up into the sub-basement of the actual resort.
Winding through more dusty corridors for a few more minutes, the group finally reached the narrow stairwell that led up into the basement. They all filed into the stairwell and started climbing the metal steps.
“So, what are you going to do with that place, Berry?” Pinkie asked curiously, most likely referring to the underground resort.
Berry Swirl thought for a moment before replying. “I’m not sure… I might repurpose it someday, maybe finish it up like my Grandfather wanted… either that or I’ll have to fill it all in with concrete.” She thought out loud. “Either way, something needs to be done to make sure the place stays stable. Thank goodness for that seismic dampener down there. We just don’t have the money to do anything with that space right now, so we can use that to make sure everything is safe.”
“It is safe to go down there now, right?” Silver Bell asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice as she looked to Glimmer Shine and the others.
Tom spoke up on behalf of the group. “Well… me and the others will have to head back down there to give the place a thorough search and take care of any remaining inhuman spirits. They wouldn’t have dispersed like the other ghosts did when we burned the remains.”
“Are you kidding me? We have to go back there?!” Sunspot groaned.
“Relax, Sunspot. I’ll be doing most of the work. I don’t want you guys messing with those inhumans. And besides, I think there was only the one in that colt animatronic left.” Tom explained.
“Best to make sure… I’m sure Berry and the others wouldn’t want any of those freaky things laying around down there.” Glimmer Shine inferred. Judging from the expressions on Berry and the others’ faces, the stallion was correct.
Finally, the group made it back into the basement of the resort. For the first time since they ventured down into the abandoned depths, they were back in familiar territory.
Up ahead, sprawled out on the ground, was an animatronic dog that most of the group remembered to be called Sparky. The robotic dog must have been waiting for them by the entrance when the spirit inside of it was removed.
Sparkplug lingered for a moment as the group walked past the animatronic. Its head had a sizable dent in it from their previous encounter with it. She frowned sadly as she thought about how much work it would take to fix the damage.
Making their way through the basement and eventually, up to the main floor, the ponies all had cheerful expressions on their faces as they drew closer to freedom. They all couldn’t wait to exit the employees-only area so they could get back out into the colorful resort. They only hoped that it was still daylight out so that they could enjoy the sight of the sun once more.
After a few more lengthy hallways and turns, the double doors leading out into the resort came into view. Freddy the bear could still be seen where he previously was, lying on the ground with severe damage to his head.
Berry Swirl walked up to the doors and paused. She looked back to the others, who nodded as a sign for her to do the honors. With an eager smile, she grabbed the pipe wedged into the door handles and removed it before opening the door.
The familiar inviting colors of the resort hallway outside were like a breath of fresh air to the group of ponies. However, there was also a more disquieting sight waiting for them. All four of the other animatronics were sitting outside.
Party Favor was slumped up against a wall, while Felix was lying on the ground face down behind her. Chica was in a crumpled heap in front of the two cats. And sitting nearest to the doors, was Bonnie.
Seeing the once proud animatronics in such a sorry shape was an oddly saddening experience for the ponies. Sure, the robotic animals had tried to kill them earlier, but that wasn’t really their fault. After all, they were just mechanical puppets being used for a purpose more sinister than they were intended for.
Sweetie Belle frowned as she looked around at the motionless entertainers. “Are they… back to normal?” She asked while looking up to the others with a hopeful expression.
“Only one way to find out.” Sparkplug said with a reassuring glance to the young unicorn. She walked closer to the animatronic rabbit and looked down at it before clearing her throat. “Bonnie, wake mode.” She spoke clearly and directly.
Everyone watched in silent anticipation as the blue rabbit remained silent. Finally, two red lights flashed on and off in Bonnie’s eyes and a few beeps sounded out. Much to the group’s surprise, the animatronic bunny started getting up.
Bonnie stood up and looked around in a seemingly confused manner. He paused as some more mechanical clicks came from within his body.
“*Krrzzt* Error… internal records show discrepancy with activation logs… What happened?” Bonnie asked while turning to the gray mare expectantly.
“Don’t worry about it, Bonnie. You were just… sleeping, for a while.” Sparkplug explained. The mechanical rabbit blinked a couple of times before nodding.
“Ok… I’ll just pretend that didn’t happen.” Bonnie reasoned casually. “How can I help you, Sparkplug?”
Sparkplug chuckled briefly and shook her head. “Why don’t you head to the kitchen and grab me some water? I could use a drink after everything that’s happened.” She asked curiously.
Several of the others immediately felt hunger pangs or bouts of thirst hitting them all at once. With everything that had happened, they hadn’t thought about the fact that they hadn’t eaten or drank anything since they got up.
“I’ll get right on that. Be right back!” Bonnie stated cheerfully before turning and marching away. As the animatronic bunny walked down the hallway, the others watched him while deep in thought.
“So… what do we do now?” Scootaloo asked curiously. She heard the sound of her friends’ stomachs growling in response.
Sweetie Belle held her empty gut and groaned. “I don’t know about you, but I’m finding something to eat first.”
“Well… yeah,” Scootaloo shrugged in agreement. “But what about after that?
Twilight smiled as she looked down at the fillies. “Isn’t it obvious?” She asked, receiving confused expressions in response. “We get back to our vacation, that’s what!” She stated eagerly.
The others brightened up as they realized that all of their problems had been dealt with. They had defeated the ghosts, and now there was nothing to get in the way of the vacation they had interrupted. With how much time they had spent running away and hiding from ghosts fearfully, they almost forgot that they were actually supposed to be relaxing and having fun this week. Before they could think further about returning to their vacation, more rumblings from their stomachs drew the ponies’ attention back to their fatigue and hunger.
“Uh… yeah… we should probably find something to eat first.” Twilight suggested with an awkward smile.
Berry Swirl stepped forward from the group, eager to please her hungry guests. “I think there should still be enough food left over to make something decent for dinner.” She said confidently.
“Last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed from the back of the group. Before anyone could process what she said, the pink mare bolted down the hallway with a surprising amount of energy despite the hunger she must have been feeling.
The others stood and stared at each other for a minute while watching the pink pony running. Finally, they started moving down the hallway at a quickened pace as they gradually accepted that they were now part of a race.
“Slow down, Pinkie! Head starts are cheating!” Rainbow Dash called after the pink pony, though she was already far ahead of the pack. Twilight and the others laughed cheerfully as they each tried to keep ahead of their friends.
The rest of the week went by in a flash. Time flies when you’re having fun as they say, and the group had more fun than they could possibly contain once they were free of any supernatural happenings to put a damper on their moods. Not only were they having a great time, but they all had a feeling of accomplishment from putting an end to a long period of suffering for some innocent spirits.
Eventually, the poolside fun and wild times out in the park had to come to an end. Despite how much they wanted to stay, the end of their trip had arrived, and the group had to prepare to leave their luxurious surroundings.
Twilight and the others gathered up all of their belongings and made their way down to the lobby of the resort. As they all walked into the room, they were surprised to see Berry Swirl and all of her staff members present to see them off. Even Bonnie and the other animatronics were in the background to say goodbye.
Berry walked up to the group with a warm smile on her face. She gave Pinkie Pie a hug before stepping back and addressing the others. “Thank you all so much… for everything. I don’t even know what we would have done if you didn’t show up.” She said with a grateful expression.
“Berry… I think I speak for all of us when I say, it was our pleasure.” Twilight said, receiving unanimous nods of approval from the others.
Glimmer Shine stepped forward and set his suitcase down. “As promised, you are now officially ghost-free. It might have taken us a little longer than expected, and we might have taken a slight detour,” He said with a slightly embarrassed expression. “But we got the job done. I hope you guys have a successful future now that you don’t have the past hanging over your head.” He reached out a foreleg to shake the purple mare’s hoof. The stallion was surprised as Berry Swirl stepped in close for a hug.
“Thank you guys especially.” Berry said while flashing a bright smile to the stallion’s two companions and their human friend.
While the group was preparing to leave, Sparkplug was watching them with an anxious expression. Berry Swirl looked back at the gray mare and nodded toward the others with an encouraging expression. Sparkplug nodded with a small smile of embarrassment before walking forward.
Glimmer Shine and the others watched curiously as they saw the gray pony walking over to them. She seemed to have something on her mind that she was trying to talk about, but she also seemed hesitant to bring it up.
“Umm… hey…” Sparkplug said while fiddling her front hooves together nervously as she looked to the team of monster hunters. “I was just wondering if uh… I could maybe… you know…” She tripped over her words, growing more nervous by the minute.
“What is it, Sparkplug?” Glitterball asked curiously.
Berry Swirl chuckled and spoke up for the gray mare. “What she’s trying to say is she wants to join your team.” She explained.
“Yeah… that.” Sparkplug rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably.
“Join us?” Glimmer Shine repeated with a confused and surprised raise of the eyebrow. “Why would you want to do that?”
Sparkplug sighed before swallowing her anxiousness and looking fully ahead at the group. “It’s always been a dream of mine to be a paranormal investigator… to hunt ghosts and find proof of their existence. Well, now that I know they exist… I want to help people who are having problems with them. You guys are incredible with what you do… and if you would let me, I would like to be a part of that.” She explained with a modest tone, trying not to flinch away as she waited for an answer.
Glimmer Shine glanced back at the other two members of his team. The two mares had equally uncertain expressions on their faces. “Uh… could you give us a moment to discuss things amongst ourselves?” He asked while walking off to the side and motioning for Glitter and Sunspot to follow him.
Sparkplug watched anxiously as the trio huddled in a circle. They each started whispering while occasionally glancing back to her, which made her incredibly nervous about her chances of actually succeeding.
“So… what do you guys think?” Sunspot whispered curiously while turning to her two teammates.
Glimmer Shine seemed hesitant, though he kept an open mind. “I don’t know guys… I mean, she did do really well down there with us, but… she isn’t royal guard or anything.”
“Huh? Since when has that been a requirement?” Sunspot tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
“I don’t know…” Glimmer replied with an unsure tone. “I just figured that the princess mostly recruited people with royal guard training.”
Sunspot shrugged her shoulders. “Well, clearly not… I mean, I’m a Wonderbolt for pony’s sake... well, an ex-Wonderbolt… but still, I haven’t even seen the inside of a guard academy.”
“She has a point,” Glitterball nodded in agreement with the pegasus. “I’m pretty sure the princess just wanted to recruit people who had skill sets that would be valuable to the team.” She inferred while looking to the stallion.
“Yeah, and Sparkplug has a great skillset we could use! She builds robots for crying out loud!” Sunspot added eagerly.
“Sunspot… we are not getting a robot.” Glimmer Shine stated adamantly.
Sunspot pouted in response. “You never let me have any fun.”
“Still, I do see your point… she does have a way with gadgets and technology. Having someone like that onboard could come in handy.” Glimmer reasoned.
Finally, after some more whispered debating the trio turned around and walked back over to the group. Sparkplug was scrutinizing their expressions and trying to figure out what they were thinking. She wasn’t succeeding, but it was making her incredibly nervous. “Well…?” She asked anxiously.
Glimmer Shine spoke up on behalf of the team. “Sparkplug… we would love to just accept you on the spot. You’re very capable, and you braved through things tonight that would make other ponies cower in fear.” He praised the gray mare with an impressed smile. However, his smile soon turned to a hesitant frown. “However… we would have to ask Princess Luna and see if she thinks you’re up to snuff.” He explained regretfully.
“Oh…” Sparkplug said before breathing a sigh of relief. “That’s good actually. I still need to help Berry and the others with fixing this place up.”
“And how long do you think that would take?” Glitterball asked curiously.
“Well… everything should speed up once we hire a new unicorn to… I guess replace me. I think… maybe a month?” Sparkplug suggested while deep in thought. “Would that work for you guys?”
Glimmer Shine shared a slight smirk with the two mares beside him. “I think we can make that work.” The stallion said confidently.
“Really? That’s great!” Sparkplug cheered giddily. Her enthusiasm died down as she noticed Berry Swirl and the others looking at her with bittersweet expressions.
“You better come and visit us if you plan on running off and hunting ghosts.” Copper Coil said with a playfully serious look on his face.
Sparkplug rested a hoof on the older stallion’s shoulder and smiled softly. “I will… Don’t think you’ll be getting rid of me anytime soon.”
Looking over to a clock on the wall, Berry Swirl shrugged as she noticed how much time had passed. “Well everyone, I think it’s time we headed out. We don’t want you to miss your train back to Ponyville.” She said while turning to her group of visitors.
Twilight and the others nodded while gathering their things. They waited for the purple earth pony to walk over to them so she could lead them back through town to the train station where she would inevitably bid farewell to them.
“You guys take care of yourselves!” Silver Bell called after the group, putting special focus on Applejack and Rarity.
“Same to you, darling.” Rarity replied.
“Bye bye!” Party Favor and the other animatronics waved to the departing group.
“We hope we see you again soon!” Bonnie added. The ponies were flattered to see all of the robotic animals bidding them farewell. Although they needed to be instructed to do so by Sparkplug, even Chica and Freddy were waving.
The group exited the resort and started their way across the park grounds. As they looked around, they were a little sad as they thought that this would be the last time they saw the lavish resort and the water park surrounding it. Most of the group resolved to return one day to see how the resort would grow.
Tom glanced to Twilight with a slight smirk as he looked behind him at the shrinking resort building. “Well, did you like your vacation?”
Twilight snorted through her nose as she looked back at the human. She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about what he meant. “Aside from the part where we almost died a few times… yeah, it was nice.”
“Next time, can we maybe do something more relaxing? Maybe sit in the library and read that pile of books you have?” Spike suggested, eliciting a brief chuckle from the others.
“Yeah… I see what you mean. I didn’t expect to get so much excitement out of a vacation to a water park.” Tom said.
“I’ll bet the princess is going to love hearing about everything that happened.” Rainbow Dash added with a wry smirk.
“Ooof… don’t remind me about that. I’m still trying to think of a way to break it to her lightly. She sent us here for us to rest… not for us to get chased around by ghosts for the better part of a day.” Twilight cringed as she thought about how the white alicorn was going to react to hearing that her student almost died a second time at a water resort of all places.
While the purple mare didn’t find the idea to be funny, everyone else got a good laugh out of it. Still, despite everything that happened, they would miss their stay at the resort, but at the same time, they were eager to return home to their quiet and peaceful homes. As Berry Swirl led them onward, they all reflected on how great of a story they had to tell their friends and families once they got back.
-One Month Later-
Every city or town in Equestria has some form of ghost story, and Fillydelphia was no exception. In this bustling city, almost everybody knew about one particular mansion in the upper-class portion of town. The building was supposedly haunted, and that was enough to draw eager thrill seekers or curious onlookers in from far and wide. On this particular dark and eerie night, a group of local children was gathered at the edge of the property. The local legends were far too enticing for them to pass up.
One colt at the front of the group held a flashlight under his face as he recounted the history of the legend to some of his more skeptical friends. “And they say… that if you enter the mansion on this night, the mare in white will appear… and get you!” He raised his voice, eliciting a few jumps and frightened squeals, along with some eye rolls.
“I don’t know about all that.” A unicorn filly from the middle of the group piped up in a cynical tone. “I don’t believe one bit about that hokey old story.”
“Oh yeah?” The colt at the front replied with a raised eyebrow. “What’s not to believe about it?”
The unicorn stood up and addressed the others with a condescending expression aimed toward the colt. “My mom knows the ponies that live in that house, and she says there’s no such thing as ghosts, and anyone that believes otherwise has hay for brains.”
“I don’t think your mom would have said that exactly.” Another filly chimed in.
The first filly sighed. “Well… I may have improvised a bit, but that is more or less what she said.”
The colt at the front of the group chuckled with a smug expression. “If you’re so sure that ghosts don’t exist, then why don’t you go up to the house and knock on the front door? The owners are out of town for the weekend anyway, so there’s nothing stopping you… unless you’re scared?” He asked with an impish smirk.
“Pfft… scared? I’ll show you who’s scared.” The filly replied while walking up to the front gate and preparing to step through.
Before the young unicorn could reach the gate, however, there was a flash of white on the other side as a pony shaped blur popped up in front of them. The group screamed fearfully while jumping back, only to quiet down as they saw the pony in more detail.
The pony standing on the other side of the gate was a white unicorn mare with multicolored hair tied up into a short ponytail. The mare was wearing the strangest looking black vest that held many pockets and pouches full of even stranger looking equipment.
“Oh, my… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The mare said with a regretful frown. She lightened up and adopted a serious expression for a moment. “You kids really shouldn’t be here right now.”
The colt from before picked himself up off the ground and stared at the unicorn mare with a stunned expression. “Hey… aren’t you one of those monster hunters that saved Equestria a few months ago?” He asked, barely managing to conceal the excitement in his voice.
The unicorn mare seemed surprised by the sudden recognition, but she nodded anyway. “Umm… yes, I suppose I am… Sorry, but my friends and I are working a case right now… Official business, sorry I can’t say more. You guys should head home. It’s dangerous to just roam around at night.
The children all had wide eyes and their mouths were agape in shock. Some of them looked between each other and the strange unicorn in disbelief. Finally, they all got up and started running down the street.
“See? I told you that place was haunted!” One of the colts exclaimed to one of the other kids as he ran.
Glitterball watched the children running until they were out of sight. She sighed and shook her head with a slight smile on her face.
“Glitter, are you out there? We’re almost ready.” A familiar stallion’s voice in her ear broke the unicorn out of her thoughts.
Glitterball put a hoof up to her ear while turning around and trotting across the property towards the house. “Sorry about that. I just had to take care of some unexpected guests. We should be good to go now.”
Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Sunspot was sitting in one of the upstairs hallways near a corner. She had become intensely familiar with the spot she was in from the last trip she and her team had made to this house. Still, she had high hopes that things would go differently this time.
“Testing, testing… is this thing on?” Another voice awkwardly spoke up through the communication spell.
Glitterball could be heard giggling before speaking up. “Yes, Sparkplug… we can hear you just fine.”
Sparkplug chuckled nervously. “Oh, right. Sorry… I’m not used to using this spell just yet. I’m still trying to remember all the gear on this vest… is this thing always so itchy?” She asked curiously.
“You’ll do fine, Sparkplug.” Glimmer Shine chimed in. “This ghost should be a cake walk compared to what you went through back at Fun Land. Do you remember what to do?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’ll just follow your lead once everything kicks off.” Sparkplug replied.
“I’m in position again. I’m all ready when you guys are.” Glitterball announced.
“Good… that’s perfect.” Glimmer Shine said with a pleased tone. “Everything should go smoothly as long as we stick to the plan… right Sunspot?” He asked. Although she couldn’t see it, the pegasus could feel the wry smirk on her leader’s face.
“Are you sure there isn’t any wiggle room for improvisation?” Sunspot asked curiously.
“Sunspot…” Glimmer Shine replied with an unimpressed tone.
Sunspot laughed. “I’m just kidding… take it easy.”
The orange mare leaned back against the wall behind her and clutched the iron chain in her hooves tightly. She wasn’t about to mess up the same mission twice. This time she would be prepared to deal with the ghostly pony.
Suddenly, the temperature in the hallway dropped. The detector vial on her suit vibrated and buzzed. As she pulled the vial up to her eyes and examined it, Sunspot gasped eagerly as she saw the glowing liquid pointing behind her. She slowly peered around the corner, and sure enough, there it was. Standing in exactly the same spot as it was last month, was a spectral white mare.
Sunspot ducked around the corner and took a moment to calm her racing nerves. She lifted a hoof up to her ear and focused on her teammates. “Guys, I found her… she’s up here with me, right where she was last time.” She explained in a hushed and serious tone.
“Alright, everyone… you know what to do. We’ll move on your mark, Sunspot.” Glimmer Shine stated.
Sunspot nodded to herself in return while getting up. She stepped around the corner, confidently brandishing her iron lasso as she approached the ghostly figure.
“Hey, you!” She announced while twirling the chain around to gather speed. The ghostly mare turned to look at her, staring past her with blue eyes blazing. “Remember me?” Sunspot asked with a wry smirk. Wasting no time to allow the spirit to escape, she tossed the chain forward.
The chain sailed through the air, hitting its target almost perfectly. The loop at the end of the chain landed around the ghost’s neck, eliciting a painful outcry as it burned her form.
Sunspot immediately felt the ghostly mare pulling to break free of her. She gripped the chain tightly and pulled back with all her might.
“Hrk… you’re just as strong as I remember.” Sunspot grunted while putting all of her weight into her struggle. Despite her best efforts, the spirit was rapidly gaining the upper hand and dragging her across the carpet.
Before the pegasus completely lost the battle, another iron chain landed around the ghost’s neck from behind. The mare in white screamed in agony from having so much iron in contact with her body. Sunspot looked up, only to see Sparkplug standing at the opposite end of the hallway.
Hearing hoofbeats coming from behind her, Sunspot turned to see Glimmer Shine and Glitterball racing up to her with similar iron chains in hoof.
“Now!” Glimmer Shine exclaimed while twirling his chain around in the air. Glitterball followed suit, and both ponies tossed their makeshift lassos at the ghost, catching her around the shoulders like the other two. The ghostly mare bucked and struggled in any way she could think to escape the burning chains. With numbers on their side, the four ponies managed to keep their hold on her.
“Come on, let’s get her downstairs and over the property line!” Sunspot suggested urgently. The others were eager to agree with her.
Once Sparkplug made her way past the angry spirit and joined the others, they all started dragging their prisoner with them as they made their way toward the stairs.
The mare in white never stopped kicking and screaming as she tried every way imaginable to get free from the chains. Every time she tried flying away or phasing through an object, the group would pull her back into a manageable position and continued on their path.
Eventually, the ponies finished their long and arduous trek out into the yard. They forcibly dragged the spirit with them toward the front gate.
As she saw where they were going, the mare in white became more aggressive and panicked. The team had to use all of their strength just to get themselves on the other side of the gate. Slowly but surely, they pulled her closer and closer to the outside of the property.
The moment the spectral mare crossed the edge of the gate, she let out a piercing shriek as her form erupted into flaming smoke. Her body flickered violently until finally, she vanished. The mess of iron chains flopped to the ground as the mare’s screams died out and faded into the night.
The four ponies panted heavily and took a moment to rest. Everyone had exhausted and drained expressions on their faces after such a rough struggle to drag the spirit so far.
“Woo… that went… *Wheeze* a lot better than the last time.” Sunspot stated with a pleased smile as she fought to catch her breath.
“Yeah… *Pant* for a minute there I thought you might go through another window.” Glimmer Shine remarked.
Sunspot narrowed her expression as she looked to the smirking stallion. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?”
“Not likely.” Glimmer chuckled in response. Glitterball had to stifle her own laughter as the pegasus glared at the both of them.
Suddenly, another voice cut into the group’s conversation. “Glimmer Shine, are you laughing at Sunspot’s misfortune again?” The group turned to see none other than Princess Luna walking up to them from down the street. “Was it the window again? I’ll have you know the owners of the house found that to be far less amusing than we do.” The alicorn said with a brief giggle.
“Does everybody in Equestria know about that?” Sunspot asked with an annoyed pout.
Luna ceased her laughter and adopted a more professional expression, leading the others to do the same. “I must say, you all did an excellent job in there. Your new recruit seems to be holding her own as well.” She said while turning to the gray mare behind the trio.
“Well, what do you think Princess? Did she pass the test?” Glimmer Shine asked with a slight smirk. Sparkplug seemed bashful as the alicorn looked her over.
Finally, Luna softened up her expression. “I wouldn’t call this a test so much as on the job training, Glimmer Shine… But if you really want my opinion, Sparkplug did an astounding job. She works well with you three, she has a passion for the job, and from what you’ve told me about your experience at Fun Land, she is very brave.” She said with a sincere smile.
Sparkplug chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her head. “Well… I don’t know about all that. I was just doing my part.”
“Well, if you keep doing that, you will make a great addition to this team.” Luna added while sticking her hoof out toward the gray pony. “Welcome aboard, Sparkplug.”
Sparkplug stared at the princess for a moment with a stunned expression. Finally, she smiled widely while shaking the alicorn’s hoof. “Thank you, Princess. I won’t let you down.” She said excitedly.
“Glad to have you with us.” Glitterball said while patting the gray mare on the back. Sunspot and Glimmer Shine did the same as they all celebrated the new arrival to their team.
“Hey, why don’t we head back to the hotel and throw a party?” Sunspot suggested eagerly as the group started walking down the street.
“I don’t know, Sunspot… I’m sure Pinkie Pie would want to be the one to throw a party for her when we get back to Ponyville.” Glimmer Shine replied with a cautionary tone.
“Aww come on… who knows how long it will be until we head back there? Besides, she wouldn’t mind that much if we celebrated a little bit without her… would she?” Sunspot asked, a hint of uncertainty in her expression.
Glitterball shook her head and chuckled. “I don’t know, but I know I’m not going to be in the room when you tell her.”
Glimmer Shine, Sparkplug, and even Princess Luna laughed heartily while the orange pegasus contemplated what would happen if she incurred the pink pony’s wrath.
The group continued down the street and into the night. With another job well done, and a new team member in their ranks, team S.P.I.R.I.T was doing better than ever. The yellow stallion and his companions felt closer than ever before, and they were ready and willing to face any challenge that their job threw at them in the future.