The Haunting
Admiral Biscuit
The fire had burned low before Milfoil poked me with a hoof. I couldn’t remember how long I’d been on the floor; I might have fallen asleep.
Windflower was still on the floor next to Milfoil. Her eyes were open, but I thought she was dozing, since she was only glowing dimly.
As soon as I moved, though, she started glowing more brightly again, and I wondered if it was fright. That was a poor defensive mechanism, although since she was already dead, it probably didn’t matter.
I looked away from her and tended to the fire instead. If she was going to leave, there was nothing I could or would do to stop her. If she wanted to stay, it would be much more comfortable for the living if I built the fire back up.
It would have been nice to have a blanket or two, but I didn’t want to scare her by cutting off her escape route. I also wondered what would happen if I tried to put my blanket over her. Would it go right through? Or was that something that she could turn on and off at will? Now wasn’t the time to find out. Tomorrow, perhaps, we could sit in front of the fireplace with blankets and offer her a spot under the blanket if she wanted.
When I went back to Milfoil, I laid down on my back. That was more comfortable.
•••••
Neither Milfoil nor I got very much sleep. Windflower finally left about an hour before sunrise. I didn’t hear her leave but when I looked over, she was gone. So was the fire.
Milfoil was awake, and I rolled on my side and put my arms around her. It wasn’t fair how much warmer she was.
She nuzzled my cheek, then kissed it, and I scratched her lightly behind the ear.
“Mmmm, that’s nice.”
“Human fingers are the best.” I reached out to get her other ear. “What time did Windflower leave?”
“Not that long ago.” Milfoil sighed. “She tried to hug me and . . . it didn’t quite work out. Not like she expected it to. She was pretty frustrated about that, poor thing. I told her that it was okay, and I told her that she was welcome back any time. Then she nuzzled my cheek. That was really cold, but I didn’t flinch away from it.
“She went over and looked at you for a bit and I thought she might want to nuzzle you too, but she didn’t.”
We’d probably dodged a bullet there; if she had, I would have jerked awake and scared her off. “Do you think we’re helping?”
“I don’t know.” Milfoil got her legs under her and stood up, then stretched out, cracking several joints in the process. “Stars, that feels better. I don’t think I’ve spent that long lying on the floor since I was a filly.”
Since she was up, there was no point in me attempting to get a bit more sleep. “Me, either.”
“You used to be a filly?”
“You know what I meant.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. “Are you gonna take a shower before work?”
“I probably should. Clear out some of the cobwebs, and relax my muscles.”
“I’ll make breakfast, then.”
•••••
I spent my day at work alternating between trying to find a comfortable position and trying not to fall asleep. I was too old to spend a night on the floor and be at my best the next day, and once work was done, I really wanted to take a nap. I’d promised Milfoil that I was going to go to market with her, though, and she’d be expecting that.
When I knocked on her door, she didn’t answer.
It still felt weird, but I let myself into her house. She wasn’t downstairs, nor was she upstairs. It wouldn’t be like her to be hiding from me for some reason, and I didn’t think she’d have forgotten that we were supposed to meet and go to market.
Which meant she was probably at my house.
I’d been stupid to not go there first. I pulled her door shut and looked at my house, expecting to see her at a window, although if she’d been watching it was more likely that she would have just come over when she saw me enter.
Her saddlebags were in the kitchen, draped across a chair; other than that, there was no sign of her.
“Milfoil?” I didn’t shout, but I was loud enough that she should have been able to hear me anywhere but in the attic.
She didn’t reply.
I was feeling a bit apprehensive. She’d been nuzzled by Windflower last night, what did that mean? Was it friendly, or something else? Was that a kiss of death? Had she been lured out into the woods herself? Or just turned into a ghost where she stood? Her saddlebags were neatly on the chair, they didn’t look like they’d been dropped, but maybe she’d had the presence of mind to take them off first when the transformation started to happen, or maybe she’d picked them up after. Windflower could carry some things in her mouth, and Milfoil was a neat enough pony she wouldn’t want to leave her saddlebags on the floor.
The house was too quiet.
I thought about just leaving. Just walking out the door and never coming back. We’d been wrong; Windflower wasn’t as innocent as she pretended to be. It was a trap, and Milfoil had gotten caught. That was why the old stallion had refused my offer: he knew. Maybe Windflower would find peace now and Milfoil would be the one doomed to wander, until she had lured some poor soul into her trap. This whole thing had been a setup from the very beginning, and I’d fallen for it hard enough to drag Milfoil in, and she’d been the one to pay the price.
•••••
I found Milfoil in my bed, fast asleep. Sprawled out on her side, hugging a pillow between her forelegs, and I resisted the urge to just run over and poke her to make sure she was still real.
It was completely obvious why: she was just tired from last night. She’d come over to wait for me and decided to take a nap and of course that wouldn’t have been comfortable with her saddlebags on, so she’d taken them off.
She hadn’t left a note because she hadn’t felt the need. She’d probably planned on a short nap, but had been so tired she fell deeply asleep and didn’t wake up when I came over. I’d gotten all worked up over absolutely nothing. If there was a prize for jumping to conclusions, I’d win it for sure.
I could have woken her up and we could have gone shopping, but I figured that between the two of us, we had enough food to last until the next market, and if we didn’t, there were always restaurants. It was best to let sleeping ponies lie.
And I was tired, too. It was so much easier to just join her, to forget about the market.
She only half-woke when I stole the pillow from between her forelegs, and as soon as I’d settled into bed, she draped a leg across my chest and tucked her muzzle against my neck, and before too long she was fast asleep again.
•••••
When I woke, there was something hard pressed against my mouth, something that tasted a bit like metal and dirt and grass and I resisted the urge to swat it away.
I opened my eyes and it took me a moment to figure out that there was a hoof pressed gently against my lips, so I cautiously turned my head towards Milfoil.
When our eyes met, she removed her hoof and tipped her head towards the foot of the bed.
We’d slept longer than either of us had intended. We’d slept through market and through dinner and well into the night.
Windflower had come, and she hadn’t found us downstairs. Maybe she’d checked upstairs first; whatever the case, she’d found us in my bed, and she’d decided to join us.
She was curled up at the foot of the bed, her muzzle tucked down on her forelegs, and her ghostly back half looped around her like a long tail.
She’d also brought her raggety stuffed pony down from the attic; that was sitting beside her.
“She’s so cute,” I whispered.
Milfoil nodded. “I was gonna yell at you for not waking me up for market, but. . . .”
“We’ve got plenty of food. It doesn’t matter.” I glanced back down at her; her ear wasn’t pointed in our direction, which meant she probably wasn’t awake enough to overhear us. Just the same, I picked my words with care. “Before, when I was—when I had my box-fort, I would take a nap in the afternoon so I’d be awake when she came.”
“You told me.”
I nodded—I was thinking out loud. “And we don’t know when she normally sleeps. If she’s generally keeping a nocturnal schedule, maybe we should try and do the same, for her benefit.”
“Stay up all night?”
“Not all night, but later. Be ready for her. I got a book for her, and I’d like to see if it draws her interest, now that she trusts us more. Read it to her.”
“She can read.”
“She could read,” I reminded Milfoil. “We don’t know if she can now.”
“How would she forget?”
I shrugged. “You ever been a ghost? Maybe she can’t see what we can see.”
“Well, it won’t hurt to try,” Milfoil said. “She might enjoy that.”
Yessss, sleeping ponies are the cutest thing.
And ghost ponies are (sometimes) also adorable.
Combine the two and you get all the adorable d'aww-inducing cuteness!
D'awww...
.. Can ghosts sleep or is it a state of shadow of just them turning their consciousness off in a remembered attempt to feign sleep?
Cat ghost snooze pone? Pone cat ghost snooze? Snooze cat pone ghost?
Hmmmm...
I just realised something: she might have that wispy back end 'cause her leg(s?) were stolen away by the beastie, and not yet reunited with the rest of her. Maybe reuniting her would make her sprout her rear legs, and be a complete ghostpone!
You know, when the narrator who had barely slept said he was tired all day I immediatly considered the possibility of Milfoil being even more tired and being asleep when he arrived. Not some spooky ghost conspiracy.
She is a sweetheart ya goof! You are the dumb monster, remember?
😢💔💙
So cute <3
It always amuses me, characters talking about someone being turned into a ghost like poof, transformation, rather than the more direct method.
Reading aloud to kids is always a good idea, even if they CAN read themselves.
9406139
Heart attack. heart attack inducing cuteness.
Pff, the way I say that makes it sound like a bad thing...
9406182
Birds are really clever. And I suppose it does seem in the range or puzzles we've seem them able to solve yeah. Bird intelligence is amazing.
9406183 Yes; I always liked it when my mom did. Or my dad, even more so - he does great character voices.
Oh, I hope Windflower nuzzles our Protagonist soon. My heart is ready.
I'm still loving this. I need moar.
9406184
In one continuity, ponies are born when rainbows touch or whatever, so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if holding hooves or looking at each other with bedroom eyes had the stork dropping by with a foal eleven months later out of nowhere.
"We didn't want a foal! Not yet, anyway."
"Then practice safe gazing practices! And wear something to cover your hooves if you're going to touch them together!"
is it bad that I was kinda sad he didnt rush over and boop her snoot a few dozen times?
9406251
So a good pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses can serve as protection, who knew?
9406251
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If Hasbro finishes out G4 with either Lyra or Bon Bon dropping a foal, I’ll literally explode.
9406256
Local Human Scares Ghost To Death
Or were you talking about his girlfriend?
THE. NARRATOR. IS. AN. IDIOT.
9406294
The narrator has been listening to the sinister suggestions in the comment box.
The adoption paperwork is going to be very complicated, what with the death certificate replacing the birth certificate.
9406175
The internet has been wrong, though. I don't trust it.
The world needs art of Windflower sleeping.
Next thing you know, Windflower will be sticking her ears up through the surface of the water while hes taking a bath, or slowly rising out of the crockpot on the stove.
Kids and pranks.
ROFL 😆😆😆 that panic attack was the best!
Two nights in a row, they've made a pattern, now it obviously needs to be made official! After all, what will Windflower think if she comes the next night and finds one less pony?
The tests have begun, let's science! But, softly.
Keep going! ;)
9406202
9406182
As an Aussie, my two cents.
Yeap, Aboriginals have been telling us for as long as we have been here. More recently, CFA volenteers told Scientists for decades that since spot fires wites started by birds and the Scientists still wouldn't believe them.
However we have documented at least 3 Species of bird spreading fires in Australia.
Given that plants (specifically gumtrees) learned to take advantage of the historically frequent fires I am inclined to believe they were spreading fires even before Australian Aborigines were using fires to hunt
Also....damn this chapter is cute. So much desire to hug the ghost ponies.
Maybe she didn’t learn in the first place? Died before she could read... yikes!
At least he had the presence of mind not to mention his macabre hypothesis. Instead, it's time for family bonding.
Holy shit is this getting adorable.
I am waiting for the moment when he discovers that he can interact with Windflower in a way normal ponies cannot because he is human. Go on, let him hug her properly.
9406331
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/428/075/30a.jpeg
9406766
Yes. Exactly.
You know, at this rate, she's going to become their de-facto adoption.... and I'm thinking she's okay with that.
Also, that was simply adorable.... just saying.
So our weird little family is now three, even if things get Rocky I have a feeling that they'll tri and tri again after all a story sans Windflower would not be much of a ghost story would it? It would drei me crazy if you se what you mean. After all this story is starting to gurav my attention. I know I'm back to my puns sam old Pen, but soba it.
They can probably ask Discord to stuff her ghost in a Raggety scarecrow pony.
Discord can do that. I KNOW!
Cute mental picture of Windflower curled up at the foot of the bed, just slumbering away.
Corrections:
9406294
Lack of proper sleep can make people think and/or do stupid things, or so I believe.
9408616
Yes, you are correct. However, that does not invalidate my statement.
9408643
Who said I was trying to?
9406139
Yes, totally.
In this case, pretty much always.
9406141
9406142
That’s a good question, and the answer might depend on how one defines sleep. I’d say in the broadest sense, the one of ‘conscious and aware,’ vs. ‘not conscious and not fully aware’ [to differentiate between being in a coma, let’s say], a ghost can sleep. In terms of what would be typical markers on living being--slowed heart rate, shallow breathing, etc.--there wouldn’t be such obvious indications of sleep. Heart rate and breathing is zero, after all.
There are probably definitions that might fit better, such as dormant vs. active. Realistically, though, ghosts and their sleeping habits--if any--is something that mainstream science doesn’t address, for obvious reasons.
9406178
Pone cat ghost snooze. All she’s missing is a moonbeam to snooze in.
That is exactly why she doesn’t have a hind half.
Maybe, although there would be a limit to what you could get back. . . .
9406179
To quote 9406294, “THE. NARRATOR. IS. AN. IDIOT.”
She is, and he is.
9406181
That’s one of the problems with being a ghost; interacting with living beings doesn’t work like you remember it working. At least Milfoil didn’t scream and gallop off in terror.
9406183
Well, it’s obvious to be turned into a ghost you’ve got to die first, and that’s not likely to be pleasant. Even if a ghost turns you into a ghost. Unless it’s like Alondro said, and a ghost can turn you into a ghost by tossing a sheet over you . . . that might not be so bad.
Agreed--it’s not just about the reading, it’s about the bonding.
Speaking of which, my dad used to make up bedtime stories for us. They often involved a monster truck, which actually now that I think about it explains a lot about why I work as a mechanic, and write stories.
9406197
On the plus side, if Windflower’s so cute that he dies of diabeetus, he might come back as a ghost and then he’ll be able to hug her properly.
So there is a silver lining to that cloud.
9406202
Well, some birds. One of our customers used to have a red VW, and a cardinal often picked fights with its mirrors.
Yeah, I think when you break it down, carrying a burning stick to start a fire is very much a two-step problem (maybe three, to figure out that fire is hot and that the hot end of the stick shouldn’t be grabbed), and certainly not the biggest leap that birds have made. And assuming that they’re visual learners--which I bet at least some birds are--once one of them has figured that out, the others will catch on pretty quick.
9406203
I don’t remember my parents reading to me (although it’s quite likely that they did), but I do remember that my dad used to make up bedtime stories for us when we were kids, and I think he sometimes took suggestions as to the theme. It’s entirely possible that that was a large influence on where I am today.
9406220
The question is whether Windflower and our protagonist are ready. Because it could go very badly . . . on the other hand, it also could go very well. And let’s be honest, even though he’s an idiot 90% of the time, his heart is very much in the right place.
9409499
Some time I like to explain the obvious. But I also have some tact and just imply it rather then outright say it.
9406251
It’s certainly a reasonable theory. I seem to recall that pegasi were mythologically born from the ocean, although I don’t remember exactly how.
In such a universe, pony sex-ed would be very different than it is for humans.
Also, based on various episodes, Big Mac would have dozens of foals already.
9406256
No, it’s not bad at all. In fact, I think that’s something that most of us would try, given the circumstances.