The Haunting
Admiral Biscuit
I knew I had research to do. Before I’d seen her, I had been trying to figure out generalities and I hadn’t come up with anything, but now I had at least some specifics. First, that there was in fact a ghost. That was not a question; that was the undeniable truth. Second, said ghost played with toys in my attic, and perhaps also in other attics—that was something I could pursue. Was she a local spirit, one who lived in the neighborhood, or did she only haunt my house? Did other ponies know her?
Did she ever show up during the day? I didn’t think she would, but maybe she did and there had just been enough noise in town for me to not notice. Her color was not unlike sky-color, and just like stars can’t be readily observed during the day, maybe she couldn’t be, either.
If she was tied to my house, it had to have been either because she’d lived there before, or because some pony gypsy had cursed either me or the house, and I figured if it was a curse, the ghost would be more baleful. Maybe gypsy curses were friendlier in Equestria.
•••••
Sometimes the things that happen in the night are revealed for the nightmares or illusions that they were in the clear light of day, but not so this time. I was still completely convinced that there was a ghost in my house, and after the sun had well and truly risen, I went back to the attic and checked the little voids where the floor met the wall. Sure enough, the toys I’d seen her hiding were there, exactly where she’d put them.
They say that if you’re crazy, you’re the last one to know, but I didn’t feel crazy. I didn’t believe I’d hidden those toys there in some kind of a fugue state, or seen them before and remembered subconsciously that that’s where they were. In fact, while I could clearly remember having seen most of those toys in the toybox before, I had never seen the plush pony. I was absolutely certain of that.
I didn’t want to take any of them from their hiding place, even though I could imagine myself doing that some time in the future. I thought that there was a chance that one of the locals might recognize them, but I also thought that I’d have to work my way up to that. Back on Earth, at least, if I’d gone around holding a plush pony and asking anyone if they recognized it, I’d probably wind up in an institution before too long. I was a stranger in town, a new face, and they at least tolerated me--nopony shunned me or gave me the evil eye or anything like that—but if I just started proclaiming there was a ghost in my attic, there was a very good chance that everyone would start avoiding me. Ponies with butterfly nets would come after me.
Maybe not; maybe that was a thing that they all knew and I was the last one to have discovered it.
I turned that idea over in my mind while I was in the shower. It was a simple enough proposition: pony ghosts are real, and all the ponies know that. They’ve all seen them before. Maybe they have pony Ouija boards and summon their ancestors for advice under the light of a full moon.
I decided that probably wasn’t the case--surely if it had been, I would have heard something about it by now. None of their other abilities like cloudwalking or weather manipulation or unicorn magic or what was essentially terraforming had been hidden from me.
Just the same, if the topic just hadn’t come up yet, and I all of a sudden started talking about ghosts they’d probably think I was a simpleton, somebody who hadn’t yet figured out what everypony else knew. Like I thought I’d just made a great discovery that when you rubbed two sticks together long enough they got hot and maybe you could make fire.
If it turned out that I was following a well-trod path, so be it. At least I would have learned something before I went off half-cocked.
•••••
In terms of research, a week’s worth didn’t net me much. Not, at least, in terms of positive results. A trip to a bigger city with a better library was an option, and that was still on the table if needed, but it felt to me that I ought to be able to pin this down locally. Maybe I was being foolish, but I couldn’t ever remember reading a book or watching a movie where the case had been solved by going somewhere else, and while taking to fiction as my modus operandi was perhaps not the best idea, as a human that was the only place I’d encountered ghosts before, so it felt that it ought to work that way.
I had been clever enough to read though several promising foal’s books, figuring that if spotting ghosts was common enough, that fact would be mentioned in one of them.
It wasn’t. Not in foal books, not in young adult books, and not in adult books.
A really well-stocked library no doubt covered topics that everypony knows. Things like fire is hot or it hurts when you fall from a height. That you need to breathe and eat food to live, that everybody and everypony dies eventually. Although that last statement wasn’t a hundred percent certain, at least when it came to their princesses. Still, it was likely that the eventual heat-death of the universe would finish them, too.
At home, I’d improved my observation post. I’d redesigned my box-fort significantly, after scrounging for some new boxes to make it larger. Ponies didn’t have pre-packaged granola bars or bottled water, but they did have canteens and some kind of dessert bar that was basically chocolate and sugar which would be plenty to keep me going through the night if needed.
I got felt to nail to the steps on the ladder to the attic, which would soften my tread, and I moved my bedroom to be on the other side of the ladder so I wouldn’t have to sneak around it. That was a temporary arrangement; once I’d solved the mystery I’d change it back.
I started shifting my sleep schedule, going to bed in the afternoon and waking for the night. While proper blackout curtains would have to be custom-made, I was able to get some thick black velvety fabric to cover the windows in my temporary bedroom, which turned it dusky all day long and pitch black at night. The only downside was that with those in place and the door closed, it got rather hot in the room, and I didn’t sleep well.
I don’t think I would have been sleeping well anyway.
•••••
Despite striking out on the research front, I made more progress with observations. She showed up several more times over the next week. Once she played in the attic with her toys, but not before examining my improved box-fort. She moved all around it, studying it from all sides, but she seemed unable or unwilling to touch it or interact with it like she did with her toys. I didn’t know how to explain it, and it was kind of unnerving to be inside and to see her moving close, and then lose her for a bit until I found a spy-hole that got her back in my view for a little bit.
She seemed kind of frustrated that I’d blocked off the attic stairs. That was a silly thing for me to think; she went through the roof--how would a pile of boxes over the attic stairs stop her? It’s not like I’d specified ghost-proof wooden boxes, after all.
It did put a germ of an idea in my head, something I thought I could somehow test. Pony magic didn’t always interact well with humans, and it was possible that the same thing extended to spirits. I wasn’t quite sure yet how I’d apply that idea, but it was something that I could explore.
I also saw her in the backyard in the old garden, the one that the colt hadn’t mowed down. She moved among the plants slowly and deliberately. I couldn’t tell what she was interested in; I didn’t want to move from my kitchen observation post at all.
I would have sworn that I saw her attending a little cluster of plants but the next morning when I went out I couldn’t find them. I chalked it up to me not knowing all that much about plants, and how different things looked at night instead of during the day, but at the back of my mind I was wondering if there were ghost ponies, might there also be ghost plants?
Before
Rather surprised as to his approach. I’m curious to see what his next steps are.
The Monotropa Uniflora or the Ghost Plant of course.
I’d be strongly tempted to leave her a new toy as a peace offering. See how she reacts.
Well, she was an earth pony, probably. I've been thinking that perhaps that was her little garden... weeding it, maybe?
An interesting thing to me is that she perceives him, or at least perceives someone. And even more interesting, she reacts with what I see as fear of some kind. And if that's true, she has something to be afraid of. But why?
Mysteries of mysterious mystery!
I like this guy thinks things out, pieces the puzzle together, and watches.
If he told Twilight about this and she moved to catch, or to interfere with her, I'm sure he would stop her from harming the ghost.
Liking this story a lot!
Ghost Ponies eat Ghost Grass and drink Ghost Water, which is quite hard to come by because very few can kill water. Sweetie Belle when cooking, maybe.
9285327
New job for sweety.
Well of course there are. Otherwise, they'd have nothing to eat and starve to life.
I'd go and ask the pony that mowed the lawn why he didn't mow that bit.
Considering how grim that stallion was, I'd come to different conclusion than that this was her garden. Maybe pry apart some of the grass and flowers very carefully without stepping on the patch.
66.media.tumblr.com/53eeacb579b30e439c284fa2a39e4592/tumblr_pi11s1BuVB1ui23zfo1_640.jpg
9285253
That was my first after the last chapter as well. And a flower, just to be nice.
Accidental or Deliberate, Id hope Zecora would be most used to interaction or at least historical shamanistic knowledge of occurances over time.
Of course, would Pinkie already know, depending on one of her side jobs?
Boo could be missing a lot of Ghost Parties.
Such cheerful thoughts... but then, with magic present, who says that maximum entropy is inevitable?
I like the way our protagonist is applying logic to an illogical situation... we all do it so often and yet, almost always, are blind to the pointlessness of doing so.
I, like Nivarion, would have likely placed extra toys in the play space to see what the reaction would be. I'd probably also have done some weeding in the 'flower bed' (after getting local advice on wanted vs unwanted plants).
I'd guess the flower patch may be where she died..
9285301
I think this sort of thing is more Luna's jurisdiction.
buy her a toy!
9285963
I'm guessing it's associated ghostly echoes. There was a flower patch that she loved, and when she goes out to tend it, it exists in a ghostly state for as long as she's there. There are probably a number of things like that: important things to her that exist as echoes when she's interacting with where they were.
Honestly I'd ask about the history of the home, and play it off as curiosity.
9285211
Correction made; thank you!
9285212
Observe is always a good first step. After that . . . .
Well, I dunno; I’ve never watched Ghost Hunters. Although I think you need to have some kind of beepy device.
9285242
Possibly . . .
9285253
That’s a pretty obvious thing to do, for sure.
9285263
That certainly could be the case. She was in fact an earth pony.
That is the $64,000 question, isn’t it?
9286447 A Ouija board, of course.
9285963 Yeah, don't go there with a shovel.
9285301
I feel like that’s the smart way to do things, rather than to rush in without thinking.
Honestly, even if the guy knows Twilght by more than reputation, I think he’d come to the conclusion that she’s not the right pony for the task. Ghosts aren’t really her field. . . .
9285327
Yeah, Sweetie could kill water. No question there.
Ghost grass . . . now that’s an interesting idea.
9285487
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Mind blown.
9285628
Because it was a flower garden, that’s why he didn’t mow it. Just bloomless, ‘cause it’s the fall.
Finding a ghost is one thing; it might be unwise for the protagonist to go too far, at least without very careful observations first (and not stepping on the patch is probably a good idea until he knows more).
Flowers are also good. Our protagonist is new to Equestria, so he probably doesn’t realize that a flower is a nice gift for anypony.
9285668
I think of all the familiar show cast, Zecora or Princess Luna would be the most likely to be able to answer questions about the spirit world.
That’s a toughie. Pinkie seems less likely to know things that happen outside of Ponyville . . . I get the sense that her abilities are generally more local.
Unless of course they hold ghost parties at night.
9285785
It probably is still inevitable, but who knows? Maybe not; maybe magic works the opposite way.
Well, that’s the best way to investigate it, I’d think. Sure, he might be stymied in the end, but even so, there may well be observable things even if he can’t explain everything.
Extra toys is always a good option. As to checking the flowerbed, he might be smart to get a pony who knows a thing or two about flowers to look at it; after all, if there’s something weird going on in the garden, an experienced pony might notice. (Whether or not they’d tell him is of course a different matter.)
9285963
That’s not an unreasonable guess.
9285973
Yeah, that’s what I’d think, too. It feels like the kind of thing that Luna would know, or else a shaman like Zecora might have useful ideas. Doesn’t really fall into Twilight’s expertise, at least as far as I know.
9286044
How to make friends with filly ghosts: buy them toys.
9286143
That’s a really, really good hypothesis.
9285866 Pure stellar core material would be an alloy of iron and nickel.
Except for that which would result from a hypothetical asymmetric core collapse. Then the star's core wouldn't form a neutron star or black hole, but completely rip itself apart. The collapsing material would form super-massive nuclei which would gradually decay to heavy stable elements over time.
In that case, if you could find a chunk of that metal in our fantasy magical-science-verse, then all the metals in it would have extraordinary magical properties. Silver and gold from it would be SUPER EFFECTIVE against evil!
9286560 Her psychotic parents murdered her and shoved her into the garden.
Which would not be the first time such a thing has happened... nor the second... or third... or fourth...
Heck, burying a body in the garden was so well-known, it became a trope for a number of murder mystery series, such as in an early season of "Murder She Wrote". And it was used by David Firth in the horror paper flash "Berries".
Hence, it fits the profile! My deduction is so logical it MUST be correct! If it isn't, you must re-write your story IMMEDIATELY!
Plays with the same exact toys every night: could be stuck in some kind of loop, reliving the same scene, or is tied to them.
Checks unmowed patch in garden: possibly where the last breath was drawn, like another user commented, final resting place, or a fond memory.
Those are my theories. And I agree, an experiment with a new toy would be interesting. She already showed that she can see the box, and apparently believes she's still alive, if her frustration over the blocked trapdoor is any indicator.
"May you occasionally walk into a room and forget why."
"Have you found a nice stallion yet? You're not getting any younger, and I want some great-great-grandchildren to spoil."
"Darn it, that one didn't even last a dozen eons."
"I'll spark up another. Cover your ears."
Riffs aside, this is getting quite interesting. Now that he's observed her, it's time for some gentle experimentation. By which I mean playing with her.
9285873
Yes
Gravesite?
She can't touch the box or go down the stairs because the felt is new. Why do you think ghosts always try to scare people away? Silly human, you are disrupting her haunt!
Boxes are ghost repellent confirmed. Which means book forts naturally protect from supernatural threat. Twilight was onto something.
They say that if you’re crazy, you’re the last one to know, but I didn’t feel crazy
9287395
So basically what you’re saying is that I need to find a golden snitch.
I mean, if you’ve got a garden and a body, it’s natural to want to join the two. And everybody knows that blood makes the grass grow, so bodies ought to really help out the flowers.
9289025
Your theories are reasonable, but not all of them are entirely accurate . . . I won’t say which is which, to avoid spoilers.
9289209
I’ve been cursed by that pony gypsy. . . .
Given that at least Tartarus is reasonably accessible and potentially the Elysium Fields are, too, it might actually be difficult to avoid advice from ancestors in Equestria.
Celestia and Luna, creating universe after universe.
What kind of games can you play with a ghost, though? That’s the question for the ages. Or at least for our protagonist.
9289383
Well, it could be a gas line, if it’s a gas lamp. Of course, those were generally built into the supporting structure, but if it’s been retrofitted, that might not be the case. Or it could be battery operated (which, admittedly, implies electricity), fed by a magic crystal, or even have Spike on the other side turning a dynamo.
9289394
The garden is not a gravesite.
9289759
Ooh, you’re so close!
And you’re totally right, the human is disrupting her haunt.
9290343
And Twilight’s got enough books to build a very comfortable book fort.
In fact, thinking of it, a library is sort of a natural book fort.
9298624
Oh, totally. When they run around in the middle of the night for no apparent reason? Chasing off ghosts.
It’s a proven fact.
He's forgotten that old codger that said he could come to him with questions....