//------------------------------//
// The Ponyville Poultergeists 
// Story: Are You Scared Yet?? 
// by Midnight Magician 
//------------------------------//

	Rarity and Twilight quickly floated through Ponyville as Twilight calculated in her head. "According to the position of the moon, I would say that we have about eight hours before sunrise! Maybe the storm will give us extra time though!" The storm truly wasn't letting up, which was bound to give them a few extra moments after sunrise. Rarity wailed, "Can you imagine how terribly upset all of Ponyville would be if I don't appear in the morning? They will wonder! They will question with tears in their very eyes, 'Where is our beloved Rarity!?" She covered her eyes with a hoof dramatically, as she so often does to impress a point upon somepony. Twilight rolled her eyes but kept her mouth soundly shut, like a good friend should. They were quickly approaching the library that currently housed Spike. When they finally reached the door, Rarity made to knock on it. Though, when she meant to bring her hoof down upon it, it simply went through the door, causing her to fall face-first through the door and into the library!

Twilight followed Rarity into the library by floating through the door. "I guess we can walk through things now." Twilight laughed at the angered expression on Rarity's face as she mumbled, "Oh really?" Twilight descended and landed quietly by Rarity's side. Twilight said, "You know, this floating thing is kind of cool!" The marshmallow mare got back up to her hooves and replied, "Yes, yes, it is rather amusing," she had an annoyed tone to her voice, "Although I think I'll stick to walking, like a dignified mare, thank you." The lavender mare shook her head as she scanned the dark library, looking for any trace of Spike. "I wonder where Spike is.." Twilight wondered aloud, as Rarity began searching through the darkness for him as well. Twilight piped up, "Rarity, it's passed Spikes bed-time! He's probably sound asleep in his little bed!" Rarity nodded, "Yes, Twilight! Let's get up there quick! The quicker we find somepony to scare, the quicker I can get back to my fabulosity!" 

Twilight floated up to the second floor of the library, where Spike's bed was. Rarity floated close by. "I thought you said floating was undignified!" whispered Twilight, a sly smile on her face. "I did, but I never was a huge fan of stair cases either!" Rarity responded, grinning sheepishly. As they finally spotted Spike, their mouths quickly fell agape at the disturbing sight that met their eyes. Spike was standing in front of a full-body mirror, flexing his non-existant muscles. He spoke to himself, "Looking good, Spike! Looking real good!" Twilight looked over to Rarity, who was watching this horrid scene take place. Spike continued talking, but now it seemed he was addressing another, though nopony else was in the room. He said smoothly, "Oh, Rarity? When did you get here? Oh, these muscles? Well, let me show you this!" Spike, once again, flexed his arms. 

Rarity trotted behind him, passing by the mirror as she did so. Spike stopped in mid-flex and quickly glanced behind himself. He looked back to the mirror and then back behind him again. Twilight whispered urgently, "I think Spike can see us if we stand in front of the mirror!" Rarity nodded and giggled. Spike's ears twitched. "H-hey, is somepony there?" he stammered. Twilight whispered in Rarity's ear again, "It appears he can also hear us, what should we do?" Rarity silently moved beside Spike, who had begun flexing in front of the mirror again. He was now speaking in a voice similar to Rarity's. "Oh, Spike! Your muscles are like-" Rarity moved up close to his ear and finished his sentence, "Mashed Potatooooos!"

Spike jumped out of his scales and leapt for his bed, quickly covering himself in his covers as Twilight and Rarity laughed hysterically. Spike looked out from under his covers! "Go away, you evil ghosts! You wait until Twilight gets here! She'll show you!" Twilight and Rarity both trotted in front of the mirror, still giggling. "Spike, look towards the mirror!" Spike, who was still trembling, glanced nervously towards the mirror as he was intstructed. He immediately noticed Twilight and Rarity, both staring at him, but nopony else was in the room with him! "Are you guys invisible?" Spike asked curiously. "You said that you hadn't perfected that spell yet!" Twilight's face fell slightly as she explained what had happened to them. 

When Twilight finished explaining, Spike put a claw to his chin, lost in thought. "So, let me get this straight. You have to scare somepony and you get your lives back?" Twilight nodded, as Rarity looked herself over in the mirror. Spike continued, pacing around the room. "But, didn't you guys technically just scare the living day-lights out of me?" Spike asked. Twilight hadn't considered that. She thought for a few moments before answering, "Well, technically Rarity scared you. That means her part of the bargain is done, but I haven't personally scared anypony yet." Rarity looked away from the mirror, "Did you mention me, Twilight?" Twilight slapped a hoof against her own face and summarized, "Yes, Rarity. You scared Spike, which means you're done with your part. Now I have to scare somepony to completely seal the deal." 

Rarity stared, dumbfounded at Twilight. She answered simply, "Well then, if that's it, then I'm happy. Now go on, dear! Go scare somepony!" Twilight, who still looked a tad annoyed at her friend, turned to Spike and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any ideas on somepony who I could scare easily, do you?" Spike didn't hear Twilight, as he was staring at Rarity's plot as she admired herself in HIS mirror! "SPIKE!" Twilight demanded, "Who can I scare?" Spike quickly refocused himself saying, "Oh well, uh! Hmm, I know the Cutie Mark Crusaders are having a sleep-over at Applejack's place!" 

Twilight looked confused so Spike continued, "The Cutie Mark Crusaders... You know, that little gang that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle started?" At the mention of her sisters name, Rarity quickly turned around. "Pardon me, but I'm sure I didn't just hear you suggest that my good friend, Twilight, should go and terrorize my sister, right?" Rarity finished her sentence with a bat of her lashes, directed at Spike. Twilight stood her ground against the interfering pony, "I'll scare whoever I have to, Rarity. Remember, me scaring your sister could keep us from an eternity of nothingness!"  Rarity began to studder an argument, but let her head fall towards the ground and surrendered. "You're right, Twilight! Well, let's get a move on! To Applejack's!

--

The ponies quickly glided to Applejack's quiet farm of a home and slipped in through the walls, silent as...well, ghosts! As soon as they entered, Twilight spotted the trio of fillies sitting together against the far wall of the farm home. Scootaloo looked out a nearby window and stammered, "W-wow, this storm is really something, huh?" Apple Bloom also looked out and quickly agreed, "Yeah. Say, what do y'all wanna do?" The three fillies discussed what they should do to keep themselves occupied while Twilight and Rarity contemplated how to scare them. Twilight said, "I bet if I could get them in front of a mirror, I'd have it made. I'd just make a scary face and it'd be set." Rarity seemed all for the idea. Rarity laughed quietly and said, "Okay Twilight, let's see your most ghoulish face!" Twilight immediately scrunched her face up and made the most terrifying face she could manage.

Rarity didn't look impressed. She sighed, "Honey, you look like you're in pain. I don't think you making a scary face is going to cut it. Oh, I know. Let's hear your scariest roar!" Twilight nodded, puffed out her chest and let out a "Ah-bloo-bloo-bloo!"  Rarity shook her head and clicked her tongue dissapointedly. "Darling, you simply MUST put some power into it! Something to make them say, 'Sacre bleu!' Oui?" Twilight, who was both embarassed and annoyed, whispered angrily, "Oh yeah? Well, I'll scare them all! And I'll do it without your help!" Rarity snorted, "We'll see! Go on then, your audience awaits!" 

Twilight moved up to the little crusaders, who were still talking. "Maybe we should play a game." Sweetie Belle suggested. "Ah don't know, maybe we should tell some scary stories!" Applejack said. "I know, let's make some snacks!" Scootaloo yelled out. Apple Bloom stood up, leadership in her tone, this WAS her house, after all. "Girls, we'll do all of those things!" The three fillies gave each other a high-hoof and started playing their game. Twilight watched them play some dumb board game while she imagined what needed to be done to scare these three. They were little fillies after all, how hard could it be? Twilight suddenly had an idea. She landed on the ground so that she could walk, floating was nice, but it came much more naturally to simply trot around. Twilight moved over to the window, and energetically ruffled the curtains. She let out an eerie, "OOoooOOooOh!" 

Scootaloo looked out, passed Twilight, and at the storm. "Gosh, that storm sure isn't letting up." She mused, turning her attention back down towards the board. Twilight let her hooves drop to her side, feeling slightly disheartened. She looked across the room and saw Rarity silently watching, a large grin on her face. Twilight was now infuriated! She cantered quickly over to the board that the three foals were so intently staring at, and forcefully kicked the pieces off of the board. It seemed she could touch solid objects if she wanted to! "What they hay!?" Apple Bloom yelled out. Twilight smiled in victory, but her smile faded when Apple Bloom continued, "Geez Sweetie Bell, that had to be the strongest sneeze ever! You blew all of the pieces off of the board!" Sweetie Bell blushed and giggled, "Oops, I guess I'm allergic to boredom." Scootaloo stood up and announced, "Okay, I think I'm ready for a scary story!" The other two whooped in agreement.

Rarity, who was still watching, couldn't help but be entertained by the frustration that Twilight was going through. Twilight was currently on the verge of tearing her own mane out. A sneeze? She HAD to sneeze right as Twilight kicked the pieces? What were the odds? Suddenly, the lights cut off. The only little light offered to the ponies was the light coming from Apple Blooms flashlight, which she was pointing up towards her face. She began slowly and dramatically, "This story," she began, "is called the Headless Horse!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were huddled together, eager to be scared but content in their safety.  Twilight looked around as Apple Bloom did her dramatic telling of the over-used sleep-over story. An idea struck! Twilight waited for the surprise end of the story. Right before Apple Bloom yells, "THE HEADLESS HORSE," Twilight planned on rushing in with a blanket over her head, pretending to be the headless horse! That should scare the daylights out of them! It scared Applejack and Rarity at THEIR sleep-over, so why couldn't it work here?

The ending of the story was approaching fast! Twilight looked towards Granny Smith Apple's rocking chair and saw a blanket draped over the back of it. Twilight smiled mischeviously and looked back towards the foals that were now huddled into a tight circle. Rarity watched intently as she tried to figure out what Twilight's plan was. If Twilight couldn't scare them soon, she'd have to intervene. Rarity wasn't ready, quite yet, to be dead. Apple Bloom whispered, leaning in towards her friends, "And just when they thought they were safe..." Twilight heard her cue, she silently moved over to Granny Smith's chair. The blanket was gone! It had been here only a few moments ago! Twilight heard her part coming quickly. "There...standing behind them... was-" 

"THE HEADLESS HORSE!" Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell all screamed in surprise as a figure yelled the ending of the story from behind them, with Granny Smith's blanket draped over their body! The lights flicked back on and AppleJack pulled the blanket from over her head, laughing. "Why are y'all so scared?" She laughed. "Just an old pony tale!" The three fillies all giggled and applauded the scary mare. AppleJack bowed and said, "Well, I'm off to bed now, I got a lot of apples to buck tomorrow! See y'all!" She cantered up the stairs towards her bedroom. 

Twilight stood stoicly, still near the chair. This was impossible. These fillies were unscarable. At least, by Twilight's standards. The lavender mare threw her hooves into the air, defeated. Rarity sauntered over and whispered. "I can help you, darling. It shan't take but a moment." Twilight shook her head vigourously. "No! I can do this myself!" she quietly responded. "Fine, dear, fine." Rarity put her hooves up in defense and backed away from Twilight Sparkle." She, of course, had no intention of letting Twilight fly solo.

Sweetie Bell announced, "I think I hear someponies tummy rumbling!" Scootaloo rubbed a hoof over her hungry stomach. "I think you're right." Scootaloo laughed. "All that being scared made me hungry." The three friends wandered into the kitchen to make themselves a late-night snack. Twilight silently followed them in there, with Rarity close behind her. The little crusaders began collecting different little morsels of food to feed themselves while Twilight plotted, watching them. "What should I do?" she pondered. Rarity already had a wonderful, no, a marvelous idea. She just hoped it would work. Would flour actually stick to a ghost? She was about to find out. While the young ponies had their backs turned, Rarity quietly opened a cabinet door and discreetly pulled out a large baggy of flour. She then stealthily sauntered behind Twilight, who was planning on poking one of them on the back and yelling, "Boo!" Rarity carefully held the bag above Twilight's head, and flipped it over, spilling its contents all over Twilight!

As Rarity has predicted, the flour stuck to Twilight! It outlined her frame. It looked so positively ghostly! Twilight coughed and sputtered, she waddled around, confused, as her eyesight was clouded by the veil of flour! The three fillies turned around to notice the ghostly figure flailing around their kitchen. All three of them screamed in unison as Twilight, who was still slightly disoriented, got her hooves tangled up and tripped, knocking silver ware and glass from the cabinets, smashing the glass and making a huge ruckus! The door to the kitchen bolted open and Big Macintosh stood at the entrance, a fierce look in his eyes. He then saw the ghostly mare stumbling  towards him, moaning. Big Mac stared for a moment and then said simply, "Nope," and then slammed the door shut, leaving the fillies alone with the ghost. 

The three fillies continued screaming as Twilight successfully cleared the last of the flour off of her. She sputtered and looked around, noticing the little crusaders, scared out of their wits. She grinned towards Rarity, who simply smiled in encouragement. "Honey, I think we'd better leave the poor darlings for now." Twilight nodded and the two ghostly mares escaped the farm by simply walking through the kitchen walls. As the two friends galloped away from the Apple Orchard, they could distinctly hear AppleJack's voice rising up over Ponyville. "What in tarnation! Who made this mess! Y'all got some explaining to do, ya hear! Where's Big Mac?" 

Rarity and Twilight laughed freely once they were sure they were out of ear-shot of any other ponies. "I did it!" Twilight giggled loudly. "I told you, I could scare them! Heck, I didn't even MEAN to! Now that takes skill!" Twilight raised a victorious hoof towards the sky, which had finally cleared up. Rarity smiled at her ignorant friend. She thought to herself, "Oh, I AM the most generous pony, aren't I?" She continued to let her lavender friend believe that Rarity had nothing to do with her successful scare tactic. As they laughed and talked relived the moment that had just passed, the dark grayness began to envelope the land around them. They were once again in the domain of Remmy the Reaper. 

As soon as the last bit of color had faded around them, he appeared. His voice was, of course, loudly booming. "Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, you have completed the task I have given you! Therefore you-" Rarity interrupted. "Would you please get on with it?" Remmy the Reaper allowed his squeaky voice to escape, "You just can't let me have a little bit of happiness can't you? With everypony it's the same thing. Oh, here comes Remmy the Reaper, let's just make sure his day is full of manure!" He slammed his hooves against the non-existant ground angrily. Rarity quickly tried to reassure him. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry! I just have so much to get done today, you understand?" Remmy waved a hoof at her. "Yeah, yeah. I'm granting you your life back. I'm also going to repair any damage done to your bodies after they got smashed by that tree. Oh, and by the way. You two are idiots! Taking refuge under a tree from a lightning storm, really!"

Twilight wasn't one for allowing her intelligence to be insulted, but she let it slide. She was getting her life back! The world around her started to evaporate, as did Remmy the Reaper. Before he completely faded, Twilight yelled out, "I always read that the Reaper was a skeleton!" Remmy replied, "I read somewhere that you were intelligent! Books lie!" Then everything went completely black. Twilight opened her eyes and was instantly blinded by the harsh light of the sun. She quickly stood up and looked herself over. The lavender mare was completely okay! No scars, cuts, bruises. She was exactly as she had been the day she died! Well, before she died. 

The magical mare stood on her four hooves and instantly noticed the tree. It was toppled over, but their bodies were moved to the side. Twilight could hear a distinct yawn come from the other side of the ruined tree. Twilight called out, "Rarity?" Rarity's head poked up from behind the tree trunk. She yawned, "Twilight, can you believe it? Look at me! Good as new! And look, my mane has even regained its natural fabulousness!" Twilight couldn't help but laugh ecstatically while Rarity continued to blissfully chatter. After regaining their strength, they began to walk back towards Ponyville, but were intercepted by a search party! 

The party stopped when they spotted the two mares. Spike ran out ahead of them, "So you did it, Twilight! You scared somepony! I'm so relieved!" Twilight laughed and rubbed a loving hoof over Spike's head. "Yeah, I did it, and by myself too!" Rarity couldn't help but let her eyes dart back and forth at these words. Spike laughed, "Well, I'm glad. I was worried I'd never see...Rarity again." His eyes clouded over and his tongue poked out passed his lips. Twilight rolled her eyes and started trotting forward. AppleJack met up with her. "Tarnation! What happened to y'all? Spike was trying to feed us this codswallop about y'all being ghosts and whatnot! Last night was a down-right mess, I tell ya! The fillies wrecked my kitchen, then they ran over to SugarCube Corner for 'safety,' and now I can't even get Big Mac to come out of his room! I tell ya, I reckon everypony's lost their mind!" 

Twilight smiled weakly as she walked forward with Applejack. "Look, AppleJack, I have some explaining to do."
So Twilight did, with her friend, Rarity, following close behind her.