Here we go!
Everypony’s attention turned to the bookshelf, from which Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suddenly emerged. The fillies instantly joined the older mares: Scootaloo ran to Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom zipped to her sister’s side.
“Scootaloo? Apple Bloom? What are THEY doing here!?” Sweetie Belle thought as her eyes shot open in surprise.
“Apple Bloom! What in tarnation are you doin’ here!?” Applejack said. The yellow filly didn’t answer, but instead stared in horror at the two shadowy figures in the library. Applejack slowly followed her sister’s gaze. Her ears drooped and her eyes shrank to green pinpricks.
“Whoah, Nellie…”
The fear quickly spread to all the ponies present. Fluttershy’s body locked up, and she keeled over. Rainbow Dash began to shiver, but hugged Scootaloo protectively. Twilight and Zecora huddled together, though Zecora looked slightly less scared than the lavender unicorn. Rarity screamed and gripped her sister tightly. Sweetie Belle could see, by her friends’ reactions, that whatever was standing over her was not very nice-looking. Gathering every ounce of her courage, she turned around.
She bit back the urge to scream. It certainly WASN’T nice-looking at all.
The apparition was large, towering over everypony with its head meeting the ceiling. It was pitch black and appeared to be wearing a ragged coat. But the face…oh, Celestia, its FACE! The face was a pale, deathly white. The “eyes” were no more than empty sockets. They were as black as its cloak, and were oozing with a crimson red substance that Sweetie Belle did NOT want to know the proper name of, though she had a chilling hunch. There was no nose on this thing, and its mouth dropped nearly to its chest. Rows upon rows of jagged teeth stained with red were inside.
The monster made a grimace, its face trained on Sweetie Belle. She suddenly felt very small, and shrank back into Rarity. Then, the most horrible sound filled the library. Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be surprised if Princess Celestia had heard it.
The Screamer lived up to its namesake, and let out a bloodcurdling howl.
Sweetie Belle felt like she had been thrown into a tub of ice water. Goosebumps prickled nearly every inch of skin under her coat, and shivers ran up and down her body. A fear like never before entered her, and she felt like she wanted to curl up in a ball and sob. She felt Rarity’s grip around her tighten. The filly clenched her eyes shut, but the image of the Screamer was burned into her mind. However, after a moment, the screaming stopped abruptly. Sweetie cracked open one eye to see Melody standing in front of her, looking grim and determined. Her horn began to glow with a powder purple aura, and she stared straight at the Screamers.
“GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” she yelled in a powerful voice. “YOU ARE NOT WANTED HERE! LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW!”
At the word “now”, a bright beam shot from the ghost filly’s horn and into one Screamer’s chest. The dark entity screeched in pain before recoiling into a wispy shadow. The other one, after seeing his partner retreat, slowly shrank down. It gave a threatening howl before floating away, and silence filled the library.
“…W-what the hay just happened!?” Rainbow Dash stuttered, letting go of a mildly disappointed Scootaloo.
“Those…those were Screamers. But that means…” Melody turned to Sweetie Belle worriedly. “Ghostly Glam knows I’m here!”
“How’d you do that thing with your horn?” Sweetie asked. “You sent those things away, like, POOF!”
“…I suppose it’s a new ghost power of mine, or something. But you should know, Sweetie Belle, your horn glowed earlier, too.”
“What!? It did?” Sweetie crossed her eyes and looked up, trying to see her horn.
“Y-yeah, it sure did, Sweetie Belle! We saw it too!” Apple Bloom pointed out. She shrank back when she saw the glare on Applejack’s face.
“And just what were you fillies doin’ here in tha first place? Yer supposed ta be at home, Apple Bloom!” she chastised her sister.
“W-Well…” Apple Bloom rubbed her front hooves together. “We kinda saw what happened to Sweetie Belle at the lake today. We just thought that maybe-
“Maybe we could help her with the whole ghost problem!” Scootaloo finished.
“Sigh…well, your hearts were in tha right place…” Applejack said. Then she frowned. “But it’s still bad ta be eavesdroppin’ on other ponies!”
“Sorry…” Apple Bloom’s ears drooped.
Sweetie Belle rubbed her head. It was hurting again; all this was just too much to take in at once! She decided to ask the newest question in her mind first.
“So, does this mean I can use magic now?”
“Why don’t you give it a try?” Melody smiled at her.
“Okay…” Sweetie Belle looked around the room. She saw one of the burnt candles in front of her. Scrunching up her face, she concentrated on at least making it rise off the floor. After a few seconds, the candle became surrounded in a soft green glow, and it rose a few inches up off the floor. Sweetie Belle gasped. Her concentration broke, and the candle fell down again, but she had already done it.
“My magic! I can use magic!” she bounced happily. Rarity patted her and gave her sister a quick hug. However, it wasn’t long until everypony’s attention turned back to Melody Chimes.
“So, are you like, alive now?” Sweetie asked her past life. The other filly gave a slight shrug.
“It is not that simple.” Sweetie Belle noticed a slight French accent in the filly’s voice. “For starters, I’m not breathing. However, my heart still beats,” she touched a hoof to her chest. “And I can use magic. Perhaps I am…half alive?”
“Is that even possible?” Scootaloo asked. “How can somepony be half alive?”
“I don’t know.” Melody fiddled with the necklace around her neck. Sweetie Belle yawned. Suddenly, she felt very tired. Her sister noticed this, and Rarity levitated her onto her back.
“I do believe we’ve all had enough excitement for one night,” she said. “Perhaps we could continue this whole affair tomorrow.”
“This idea is very wise,” Zecora said. “We should all go home and rest our eyes.”
“Wait!” Apple Bloom said. “W-what if those things come back?” The ponies all shuddered at the memory of the Screamers.
“They cannot do you any harm,” Melody said in a drowsy voice. “Screamers may look monstrous, but they are only meant to scare.”
“Well, if you’re sure…” Twilight said.
“I’m sure we can resolve this, Miss Sparkle,” Melody said politely. “With all of us working together…we can win…” the little filly yawned and shook her head.
“Well, come along, Melody. I’ll set up a spare bed for you.” Rarity said, heading toward the door. Melody’s eyes went wide.
“Really? I can stay with you?” Rarity nodded. She bid good night to her friends, and after tucking the two fillies into their beds, the fashion pony realized that the former ghost filly and her beloved sister had the same squeak in their voice.