A Walk Among Spirits

by ChaosDragoon

Chapter 4

"No, it's just me, my mom, and my dad. My dad's part of the Royal Guard and my mom owns a jewelry store in Ponyville" Skyline said as he shook his head. The thought of his father in the Royal Guard triggered the thought of his helmet and he began to panic, "Oh no! No, no, no" He began to look around the room, but he didn't see the helmet anywhere. He fell to the floor in a panic worried he had lost his father's helmet.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked frantically.

"My dad's helmet. He let me take it to school, but only if I promised to take care of it," Skyline explained before he buried his face in his arms and added, "He'll never trust me with it again."

"I highly doubt he'll be worried about it with you missing," Sweetie Belle said.

---

One Day Ago:

The fire Ponies sprayed water onto the schoolhouse to control the flames while police Ponies kept the crowd at a safe distance while also letting parents of the foals that were in the schoolhouse through.

"Where is my daughter!? By Celestia, you do your damn job and find her!" Filthy Rich roared at a police Pony who wiped the spit from his face.

"I understand your concern, but we're doing our best to complete a list of missing foals before we commence the search," the police Pony explained.

"You will search now!" Filthy Rich screamed. More police Ponies came to calm him down, but he turned his rage on them.

Twilight was talking with a police Pony and before long she thanked him and walked back to her friends. Rarity quickly grabbed Twilight and began to shake her and cried, "Do they know where Sweetie Belle is? Do they?!" Twilight, with the help of Pinkie and Fluttershy, was able to get out of Rarity's grasp.

"What about Apple Bloom?" Applejack Cried.

"And Scootaloo," Dash asked as her voice cracked.

"They are still unsure where they are," Twilight said as she shook her head and explained, "According to the students: there was an explosion on the right side of the classroom. After that, Ponies, possible stallions rushed in and began to stuff any foal they could get their hooves on into sacks. The Ponies wore skull masks and black robes. Cheerilee tried her best to fight off the Ponies so her students could escape, but one of the foals saw her get knocked out and stuffed in a sack."

"Mrs. Cheerilee was taken as well," Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded before continuing.

"Some of the foals saw the Ponies stick syringes into the bags. The police think they sedated the captives to keep them from fighting. The police just did a headcount and after comparing the count to the attendance sheet. Along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Cheerilee. The Ponies took five other foals," Twilight explained.

"Who else?" Rarity asked.

"Diamond Tiara, Snips, Skyline, Twist, and Pipsqueak," Twilight said.

It took a good hour to stop the flames and when they did, the fire Ponies searched the charred remains of the schoolhouse. A silver Pegasus and gold Unicorn had rushed to the schoolhouse and demanded to be let through to see their foal. When the police Pony escorted them to where the other parents were. One of the fire Ponies walked out of the schoolhouse with a Royal Guard helmet under his arm.

---

The window tore open and the pair of yellow eyes glared at them as the stallion hissed, "Your meals are ready you ungrateful foals." He slid four trays through the doggy door. The trays had the same food as before: pinkish-gray goop, a yellow brick, and a dinner roll (This time none had mold on them). The cart the stallion pushed squeaked down the hall.

The four started eating the goop. Somehow it tasted more disgusting them last night. Sweetie Belle even found a few strands of mane in hers which made her gag even more. An hour after they had choked down their food. The lights clicked off and they were left in the darkness of the room. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom went to the right corner of the room again while Skyline lay in the middle of the room on his side. However, unlike last night, he didn't immediately fall asleep. Instead, he lay on the cold cement floor, his mind wondering.

He knew they were looking for them, of that he was sure. His dad was probably having the whole Royal Guard looking for them. However, he didn't know if they would find them. He had heard about all the stallions, mares, fillies, and colts that had gone missing over the years. Many of them were found, but a majority of the missing were never found. He didn't know how well hidden this place was. He didn't even know if they were underground or high in the sky. It was clear that they didn't want anyone to escape since they took his and Scootaloo's wings and Sweetie Belle's horn. He feared he would join the Ponies that stayed missing and be forgotten. He feared he'd never watch his mother make jewelry in her store, never have family game night where his parents let him win and thought he didn't notice, or hear all his father's stories when he went out with the Royal Guard. Thinking about all of it made him sob and he cried until he fell asleep.

---

Skyline stood in front of the tipped over the camera and watched as the red cobra and white tiger battled one another. He knew they were fighting to see who would devour him and leave the scraps to the other. He slowly backed away and hoped neither one would see him. He stopped when he heard a low growl behind him. Skyline turned around to see a wolf made of red mist slowly stalking towards him. Its glowing green eyes burrowed into Skyline as black mud dripped from its mouth. Skyline chuckled nervously as he started to back away from the wolf. Unaware of the shadow flying overhead that suddenly darted towards him.

---

Skyline was jolted awake by a slamming at the steel door. The three fillies had also been violently woken up by the sound. He looked at the window to see the pair of yellow eyes staring at him. They disappeared and were replaced by a pair of candy apple red eyes that glared at him just like the pair of yellow eyes did. The window closed before five clicks came from the door. All four foals suddenly stood up like their bodies were being controlled. Skyline found he couldn't move his body as it stood up straight.

The door opened and in walked a milk-white mare with candy apple red eyes and blue mane. She picked up Skyline and placed him under her arm before turning around and walking out with him. When she brought him out of the room, she placed him on a cart. He finally saw the world that stood behind the steel door. It was a long green hallway with steel doors on either side. It looked like the hallway went forever.

He finally saw what the stallion with the yellow eyes looked like. He was a chubby tan stallion with a red mane and tail. The stallion began to examine Skyline and that's when Skyline noticed the stallion was missing part of his right ear. After the examination, the stallion smiled and Skyline saw his yellow teeth. The tan stallion nodded to the milk-white mare before he walked behind Skyline and began to push the cart. Skyline desperately tried to move so he could run, but his body was locked in place.

Sweat rolled down his face as they pushed him towards the end of the hall. This was it. He would see The Clinic and see what twisted things the Professor had planned for him. Would she sedate him before she worked on him or would she simply strap him to the table and cut into him while he felt every sharp point of her tools?

While they pushed him down the hall, he noticed the milk-white mare was once a Unicorn, but now had the same jagged edge as Sweetie Belle. He quickly assumed that the Professor didn't work on Ponies she thought could help her. Maybe if he convinced these Ponies that he could help her. He might save himself a trip to The Clinic.

"I-I can help you know," Skyline stuttered. The white mare looked at him quizzically before Skyline continued, "I can help! Maybe with the foals that she brings in. keep them from crying so the other staff doesn't have to hear them all the time. Maybe even keep them from trying to kill themselves. I'm sure you lose a ton of Ponies like that. I can do it. Just as long as I don't go to The Clinic." Skyline knew it was a terrible persuasion, but it was the only thing he could come up with. The milk-white mare laughed which sent a shiver through his body.

"She wouldn't need the help of some stupid foal," the mare said with a sadistic smile on her face and she added, "Not yet anyway."