Sweetie's Mansion

by Moon Shooter

Chapter 17- The Reunion for a Crusade

"She... She caught her..." A voice said.

Sweetie woke up in the same darkness as before... but this time, her mind wasn't as blurred and misty. Now, she could clearly hear the voices... and she knew exactly who's they were.

"Rarity..." Specter said.

"No Yield! This changes everything!" Rarity yelled angrily. "You said she wouldn't catch her so fast! You said she couldn't catch Pinkie!"

"I know what I said. I didn't expect this in the slightest. I thought the mare would at least keep her busy until everything was set up..."

"Now what?" Rarity asked. "The mare knows things! You know she has connections with-"

"I know." Specter interrupted.

"Then what?" Rarity asked.

"Simple. We keep going of course." Specter said. "She may have caught her, but without her camera, or her map, she's going to have a pretty hard time reaching the safe zone. Especially since most of the paths to the dining hall are blocked. Even if she does somehow find a path, or her camera, she won't make it in time to have a chance at stopping our plan. Besides, she still has my kids, Spiffy and the griffon to worry about."

"... the plan. How is that going by the way?" Rarity said after a pause. She seemed a bit more calm and collected.

"It's halfway done. As we expected, the alicorn race has tremendous will power... but even it can be broken. Recently, I've managed to get Princess Luna under our control. Now we can force her to raise the moon in preparation for the second part of our plan. Worst case scenario, we can rip off her cutie mark and continue its movement ourselves when the time comes."

"But what about Celestia dear? We need both of them, don't we?"

"Celestia's will appears to be stronger than Luna's... it's going to be tough breaking her spirit like her sister's... but as long as we remain constant, and no pony stumbles upon the lab, it'll break all the same." Specter concluded.

"So... we're fine then? My stupid little sister isn't going to stop us?"

Specter paused. He seemed to be thinking of something, but Sweetie couldn't tell without seeing him. Finally, he spoke.

"... it's quite unlikely, yes."

"Specter honey? Is something wrong?" Rarity asked. Sweetie heard hoofsteps.

"It's... just thinking is all... that's its all going to be over soon."

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.

Specter sighed. "... nothing that matters anymore. You're right though... the stupid filly doesn't have a chance.

"Do you love me?" Rarity asked.

Specter paused for another couple of moments. "... of course I do."

Sweetie heard a kiss in the darkness.

"She... she didn't. He didn't make her..." Sweetie mumbled to herself in disgust.

"Oh that sneaky little filly!" Rarity said angrily.

"Huh?" Sweetie said softly.

"What do you mean?" Specter asked.

"She's spying on us! She's been listening to every word we've said!" Rarity said.

"She heard me?" Sweetie said to herself.

"Hm... I figured she'd try something like this." Specter concluded. "I need to go."

"Specter honey? Where are you going?" Rarity asked.

"I need to... cut off a few loose ends. You won't have to worry about her anymore."

"This won't hurt our special plans later... will it?"

"Not in the slightest. I'm headed down to the crypt. Just meet me in the church right above it when the time comes."

"Of course. I love you..."

"I know you do..."

Sweetie heard the sound of a door shutting before any other words could be exchanged...

***

Sweetie woke up from her slumber. After being brought out of the dream state darkness, pain immediately filled her tiny filly body. She didn't scream, or moan in response however. She was too groggy to even form those sounds. As usual, her body wasn't responding to her brain as it told her to get up on her hooves. Sweetie didn't mind however, for as long as there weren't any ghosts around, she felt she could use the couple minutes of rest. Besides, at least the weakness was an indication that she didn't imagine catching Pinkie...

The memories of the carnival she'd somehow survived flooded back into her head. The filly opened her eyes slightly, looking at what was in front of her as she lied on her stomach. She was in a hallway... one of the mansion hallways from what she could tell. She was back...

Great... Sweetie thought. I'll take this creepy old place over that crazy carnival.

Sweetie wondered... what did happen. How did she end up there anyway? What the hay did Pinkie do to her? Besides the capture, did all of the events she remembered all in her imagination? It simply didn't make sense... did she really go crazy?

Weakly, Sweetie's nerves and muscles began responding again. She felt like she could possibly get back up on her hooves again. When she tried, a sharp pain shot from her hind leg through her body.

"AH!" Sweetie screamed before collapsing back to the ground, which made a crumpling sound on impact. Sweetie's urge to moan in pain had returned. Something told her that what she'd experienced wasn't completely imagined... the filly couldn't imagine any other way she could have gotten such an injury. That still begged the question... how? Could she mind dive like Twilight? Or was there some other method to the madness she'd undergone...

In either case, Sweetie was still stuck with a broken leg, and she wasn't going anywhere... thankfully however, she'd heeded to Pinkie's words.

I'd save that little heart candy if I were you...

She still had the heart candy... Sweetie wondered if Pinkie planned this kind of situation... but for now, it didn't matter. She could use it to heal herself... hopefully. Up until now, the filly had only received small cuts, burns and bruises from her friends, accompanied by the freezing and weakness that came with capturing ghosts. Sweetie was sure the heart would fix her weakness... but what about broken bones? This was the most significant injury yet... what if it didn't work? How would she get around?

Sweetie could only hope as she put the rock into her mouth and began to dissolve it with her saliva. As the melted substance went down her throat and into her stomach, she felt her stomach seem to explode. Not unpleasantly, or painfully, but rather an opposite feeling of relief. Her tense muscles released and over all felt stronger... but the feeling went to her hind leg. The cooling relief in the body part turned into a biting pain. Sweetie flinched, but bit her lip against the pain as she felt the fracture in her bone begin to close and mend itself. Thankfully, it didn't last for long... the pain turned into the same pleasing coolness as the rest of her body...

Did it work? Sweetie wondered. She tried to get back up on all fours. There was still pain in her leg... but it was bearable. She'd be limping for a bit, but at least be able to move around. The pain was also something small enough that she'd likely be able to get used to.

Sweetie looked around her, fully acknowledged her surroundings. The first thing that caught her eye was the surface she was standing on. It wasn't the red rug that she'd usually find stretched down the hallway that she'd found in the mansion... it was paper. Sweetie painfully limped off of the surface, flinching every time she took a step with her previously broken hind leg and stood back from it, realizing what it was: the CMC paper airplane. The nose was bent and the wings were a little wrinkled... but it was definitely in better shape than what she'd seen when she crashed earlier that night.

Some pony must have seen it in front of the mansion and brought it in. Sweetie figured. Who the hay brought it in, and why would they go through the trouble of fixing it up?

For whatever reason it had been done, Sweetie was glad some pony had fixed it, and was even happy that she'd gone through the risk of bringing it to the mansion. It was nice to know that the work she and her friends had put into it wouldn't go to waste...

Sweetie turned around to face the other side of the hallway. Not too far down, she saw her flashlight, lying in the darkness. She stood still however realizing how clearly she could see her flashlight without any other light... besides the moon.

The moon's up now... Sweetie thought, remembering the dark place she'd dreamed about. The moon was a part of some big plan Specter had... she wondered what it could be. All she knew was that it wasn't good... and something told her that she was the only one who could stop it... Sweetie shook her head. The only one to stop it? The filly was getting ahead of herself. Her friends were the ones who dealt with that kind of "Equestia's Only Hope" business, right? Better remember to tell Twilight about this when I get back.

Sweetie went over and picked up her flashlight. She activate it as her eyes adjusted around the area it illuminated. Though her vision was once again constricted to where it shined, she could at least point out the details of the hallway. She kept that in mind…

The filly already knew from the moment she woke up that she'd been moved from the courtyard... but the problem was the new location she was in... Sweetie had no idea where she was. Up until this point, the floors she'd come across had beige walls decorated with paintings of ponies or landscapes with a wooden baseboard covering the bottom half of the wall. On the walls, in between the other paintings were ponies that seemed to be drawn by a foal. The baseboard now also had different hoof crafted etchings of foal accessories and toys.

"Heh. Perfect." Sweetie sighed. It was official: the filly was lost. She had no idea where in the mansion she was, or what floor she was on... and without her map, she was lost. It was fine though, for all the filly needed to do was reach into her bag, pull out her camera and-

"Oh you've got to be kidding me..."

As Sweetie looked back to get her camera, she remembered that Pinkie had thrown it in the carnival. She didn't have it anymore. This realization however wasn't what the filly was responding to, but it was rather the fact that her GCD was gone... again.

"Great. I'm lost, and defenseless. Couldn't get any better than this." Sweetie said to herself. I've got to find the ghost capturer. I can't do much without it. Sweetie hoped that her friends, or any ghost for that matter hadn't decided to split it up like the last time.

Sweetie took a moment to look through her saddlebags to take inventory on what she still had. All that was left was her CMC ball, the ghost book, the journal, and one of Applebloom's knives, another souvenir of proof she'd received from her visit to the carnival.

There was no point in staying there anymore. She had to investigate her new surroundings in hopes of getting her bearings and returning to the safe room. Sweetie took a deep breath as she pushed Applejack's had firmly onto her head. The filly trekked forward, in hopes of locating her GCD and getting back to the safe room, which was more important than ever now.

The mare knows things...

If they were talking about Pinkie, then her de-ghostification was the most important thing of all. Pinkie might have held information that could very well be able to stop Specter. Sweetie had to get back to the safe room, if not for herself...

But for all the ponies she knew and loved...

***

Sweetie contemplated going back to get the paper airplane as she continued to walk forward, but shook her head at the thought. It was fine where it was, and she didn't need the extra weight on her anyway. Sweetie had the gut feeling that the paper airplane would prove useful in some way or another... but until she figured out what that something was, she wouldn't break her back over it like she did earlier that night. All she had to focus on was retrieving the GCD and Pinkie, who was hopefully still inside.

Sweetie attempted to open several doors in the hallway. As she'd expected, many of them were locked. The ones that weren't locked held nothing of interest or material value to the filly. The rooms varied from powder rooms, to viewing rooms, to storage rooms, to plain old bed rooms, though in the end, they were all contained same dusty sheets that covered several pieces of furniture Sweetie didn't bother to check out. In some rooms however, Sweetie did take a moment to look out the window at the sky. It was still fairly cloudy, but at some points, the clouds opened up to show the night sky. Then, Sweetie could see the stars dancing around the moon. Something always seemed hypnotic about the night to the filly. She could never understand how some pony, even a supposedly immortal alicorn, could come up with such a thing with magic...

Though the filly looked at the sky with admiration, she also looked up at it with fear. Every time she thought of the moon, she thought of Luna. Every time she thought of Luna, she remembered what Specter had said in the dream about her being under his control now. Sweetie feared the idea of having to go up against such a powerful alicorn... and if Specter managed to take over Celestia-

Sweetie shook her head, taking her eyes off of the window she was currently looking out of. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. The filly turned around, and left the room, leaving the door open behind her in order to remind her she'd already looked through that room. Sweetie went from room to room to room to room, and didn't find a single useful item. Finally, after what she figured to be 7 rooms, she finally came across some variation... this new door that Sweetie stood in front of was one with an emblem on it. It was an etching of what Sweetie assumed to be a piece of wrapped candy. It reminded the filly of Bon-Bon, one of Ponyville's candy makers besides Pinkie and the Cakes, and her cutie mark... could this have been Candy's room?

Sweetie reached for the doorknob, but something stopped her. The filly heard voices on the other side of the room. The ones that she knew very well.

"Pull harder!" Scootaloo commanded. "It isn't going to come off if you keep pulling it like a baby."

"It's not a baby stupid! It's called a foal! There's a difference." Applebloom said. Sweetie recognized her voice, but noted the absence of her country accent.

"Whatever, you're pulling like you've got noodles for legs."

"You didn't do any better."

"Oh yeah? At least I got it loose."

"I got it looser than you did!"

"Nu uh!" Scootaloo argued.

"Yuh huh!" Applebloom said back.

They don't know I'm here. Maybe I can scare them when now that I have the element of surprise. Sweetie thought. In all honesty, Sweetie didn't even want to confront the possessed fillies, especially of her own will... but it was too much to hope that Sweetie wouldn't find something useful in Candy's room of all rooms. She put her hoof on the doorknob, ready to bust inside.

One... Two... Th- Sweetie counted. Suddenly, her leg gave her a sudden jolt of pain. As Sweetie pushed forward into the room, the pain caused her to lose her balance and collapse to the ground. The two fillies inside, rather than being shocked, they simply turned to the filly, grinned, and laughed at her as she lay on the ground.

Sweetie moaned in pain as she tried to regain control over her leg, as the intense pain went back down to moderate. She got back up on all fours to face her friends.

"Looky who decided ta show up." Applebloom said. "When we foun th' vacuum thin 'ere in th' hallway, we done thought ya were still stuck in th' carnival place."

"Cut the act Candy. I already knew you weren't Applebloom, but now I know who you both are." Sweetie said bravely.

The two of them laughed at Sweetie.

"I think she finally figured us out sis." Marbles said through Scootaloo's body. "Guess you can quit the lower class talk huh?"

Candy sighed through Applebloom's body. "I was starting to have fun with it too. Oh well."

Sweetie took a look at what they were doing. In Marble's hooves was the spectral containment pack, and in Candy's was the nozzle and ectotube connected to pack... barely. From what Sweetie could tell, Candy was trying to pull the piece away from the pack. The lack of screws appeared to make the task easier...

"So you know who we are. So what? What's that change really?" Marbles/Scootaloo asked. "You’re still the same stupid filly with her friends trying to kill her."

At first, Sweetie figured that they were simply trying to separate the parts again for Sweetie to go off and find again... but then she realized what their goal was when she noticed the green light on the back of the GCD flicker as pink ooze seeped from the point between the ectotube and the pack... they were trying to release Pinkie.

"You're also the same annoying foal who every pony I've talked to can barely stand. Heh, even Ms. Fluttershy talked about getting you a muzzle." Candy/Applebloom added.

As they spoke, Candy/Applebloom hadn't stopped pulling on the ectotube as Marbles held the pack in place. Slowly but surely, Sweetie could see the part coming off of the pack. Sweetie couldn't let them free the mare. That carnival was likely the only shot she'd get at catching the slippery mare. She had to do something. She couldn't imagine what the ghost Pinkie would do to her after that.

Sweetie wasn't thinking as instinct took her over the filly as she ran for Marbles/Scootaloo. She didn't know what she was doing until she felt her head ram into the filly's body. Marbles lost her hold over her end of the GCD as she went to the floor with Sweetie. The white filly tried to hold her down, however Sweetie was reminded of Scootaloo's augmented strength as she threw the white filly off of her, and against the window on the opposite side of the room. She hit the window with such force, she heard a crack in the glass.

Sweetie's leg started to hurt again. She wasn't sure which hurt more: her leg that had been previously broken, or her head which had hit the window on impact. She wasn't given time to think about such things as she was also reminded of Scootaloo's speed. What seemed like less than a few milliseconds, Scootaloo rushed over to Sweetie and pushed her head up against the window a second time, creating a second crack. Applebloom laughed as she picked up her knife and joined Scootaloo as they cornered the filly against the window. As she fell to the ground, Applejack's hat fell down from her head and right next to her.

Marbles/Scootaloo turned the filly onto her back and got on top of her to pin her down. When Sweetie looked up, all she could see was Marbles/Scootaloo's grinning face. When she looked to her left, all she saw was Applebloom with her knife in her muzzle. Sweetie struggled to free herself, but between her leg and her throbbing head, she was stuck beneath Marbles/Scootaloo.

"I was kind of hopping for more from you." Candy/Applebloom said through the knife.

"Yeah. All you've gotta do is put a little weight on the big bad ghost hunter, and all she is, is just a little foal."

As Candy/Applebloom began to approach the filly with the knife, Sweetie noticed something small and yellow dart out of the corner of her eye. It didn't have the same exact yellow tint as a foal ghost... could it be what she thought it was? And if Marbles/Scootaloo didn't seem to notice it yet...

I've got to keep them talking. Just for a few seconds.

"Wait!" Sweetie said.

Candy/Applebloom stopped. "What now?"

"A-aren't you gonna give me s-some last words?" Sweetie stuttered out nervously.

"What? No way!" Candy/Applebloom said through the knife.

"Aw, c'mon Candy. Let's just humor her. Not like she can squirm her way out of this one." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"You always want to do the opposite of what I want!" Candy/Applebloom said.

"'Cause what you want is stupid." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"Your stupid!" Candy/Applebloom said. "At least I'm not the one who got us killed! Daddy said so!"

"Nu-uh! Daddy said you did it! You got mommy killed too." Marbles/Scootaloo argued.

Sweetie saw the thing out of the corner of her eye again. Her eye wouldn't go over far enough to tell if it was getting closer or farther away. All Sweetie could tell was that it was still in the room.

Candy/Applebloom sighed. "Fine. What do you want to say."

"Huh?" Sweetie asked.

"Your last words? Unless you changed your mind." Candy/Applebloom said, grinning wider, eager to stick the knife through her throat.

"N-no, no, I-I still had something to say." Sweetie said. She thought for a moment. What could she say or ask to keep her alive for a little longer. She couldn't make it too obvious she was stalling, or they might think the filly was up to something. "I-I just want... I just want to know why you... why you want to kill me so badly. T-that's all."

"Why we want to kill you?" Candy/Scootaloo asked. Candy/Applebloom and Marbles/Scootaloo looked at each other, then laughed. Sweetie was too scared to ask why.

"Well, a couple reasons actually." Candy/Applebloom said.

Oh boy. Sweetie thought. She saw the thing dart across the room a third time. Sweetie figured it was scanning the room, looking for something...

"First off... It's fun to see you scared." Marbles/Scootaloo said. "I haven't had this much fun messing with a filly since I was alive and I’d get back at Candy who used to touch all of my stuff."

"No I didn't! Half the stuff you played with mommy gave to me! You only gave it back when mom threatened to tell all of your friends you play with mare dolls!"

"I don't know what you’re talking about. I only play with stallion action figures." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

I don't see what the big deal is. There's nothing wrong with guys playing with ponies. Sweetie thought.

"The second reason is because daddy told us to." Candy/Applebloom said.

Saw that one coming. Sweetie thought.

"... though, he was kind of weird on it. First, he said he wanted your soul without hurting your body... then he said to capture you... then he really quickly changed it to wanting to kill you." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"Daddy was always weird." Candy/Applebloom added.

"Your only saying that because he liked me better."

I'm starting to sense some family tension here. Sweetie thought as she saw the thing pass by her for the fourth time. This time, she was fairly sure it was getting closer to her.

"Third... because Miss Pinkie wanted us to." Marbles/Scootaloo said. "She's your friend right?"

Until Sweetie brought Pinkie back to life, the filly was reluctant to call her "friend". Sweetie remained silent.

"I don't know how a slow little foal like you could've possibly kept up with her. I haven't seen any pony as crazy as her since Mr. Bonkers who used to put together the parades." Candy/Applebloom said.

"I don't really think that's important. Miss Audit always did say you couldn't stay on subject." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"Nu-uh. She wrote that on your report card." Candy/Applebloom argued.

This is working better than I'd hoped. Just a couple more seconds... Sweetie thought. She hadn't seen the dart of yellow for quite some time now. She did however notice the hat jump one, as though something small had crossed it.

"Forget you. Anyway, Pinkie wanted us to... and let me tell you, you're all she could think about the entire night." Candy/Applebloom said.

"Yeah, either she reeealy hatted you, or she had a really big reason for wanting you so badly. We guessed if we killed you, we'd find out why."

That's interesting... I've got a good feeling they're under Specter's control. From what I've learned around the mansion, they're brats, and sometimes a little crazy, but even dead, I couldn't see them as murderers... still though, what kind of sorry stallion gets their own kids to do their own dirty work? And even more... what kind of beef did the ghost Pinkie have with me that motivated her so much? I-

Sweetie was brought out of thought with the feeling of a cold blade against her neck. She could see Candy/Applebloom's crazed eyes over her neck, her muzzle ready to make the cut.

"And that pretty much sums that up." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"Well, it's been fun Sweetie Belle. Really fun, but like mommy said when we died... good things always have to come to an end."

"Wait!" Sweetie said.

Candy/Applebloom groaned through the knife. "What now?"

"M-mouse." Sweetie said.

Marbles/Scootaloo's eyes dilated in fear for a moment, but went back to normal as he/she laughed. "Like I'm gonna fall for that again. I'm not stupid."

"Yeah you are." Candy/Applebloom said.

"You can't fool me twice. Now shut up and cut her-" Marbles/Scootaloo said before she stopped. Sweetie knew why as she felt the coldness of the mouse's feet as it hoped up across her mane and onto her stomach right in front of Marbles/Scootaloo.

"M-M-MOUSE!" Marbles/Scootaloo screamed as she jumped off of Sweetie. For a moment, Sweetie noticed something glowing in the filly's mouth, but didn't have time to see any more as the filly bolted out of the room.

"Marbles! Come back ya big baby!" Candy/Applebloom said chasing Marbles/Scootaloo out of the room with the knife. Sweetie put her hoof to her neck.

"Another close call..." Sweetie said, as she looked at the freezing yellow mouse sitting on her stomach. "Guess I should say thank you?"

The mouse squeaked, not really understanding what it had just done, before running out of the room by phasing through a wall into the next room over.... and like that, Sweetie was alone again. "Fine. Leave me like everyone else. See if I care." Sweetie mumbled as she got back up on all fours. She rubbed her head. "As if I wasn't in enough pain. Gotta remember to thank Marbles for that later."

Sweetie picked up her GCD and inspected it. Though the fillies had done some real damage to the device, the gap between the ectotube and the spectral containment pack wasn't enough to release Pinkie. Sweetie tested the GCD by hitting the nozzle button.

Error. Unable to activate GCD primary functions. Please secure ectotube. The GCD said.

"Of course it's not working why would it be working?" Sweetie muttered sourly. She was really beginning to get sick and tired of nothing working for her. She put the GCD on her back, her hat on her head and her flashlight back into her mouth. "Alright Sweetie... what now?"

Sweetie figured it to be best for her to check out the room, considering it was the only one so far that was unlocked and different. It was a bedroom, but unlike the other ones, this one had a crib inside. Sweetie went over and looked inside. There were two items of interest inside: a journal page and a key. Sweetie went for the journal page and began to read. As she did, she continued to nervously look at the doorway, as though the children would come back in at any time... but something told her they weren't coming back anytime soon...

July 2nd, 851A.C

Today wasn’t an eventful one. Calm, but boring. Then again, I couldn't help but still make a journal entry today, just to have this recorded once. It's about our loyal, wonderful, trustworthy pony-servant, Spiffy Butler. I've known him since Specter and I first met and on from there. I trust the stallion with my secrets and even my life sometimes... then again, I can't help but not trust him at all. I'm probably the most shallow mare for thinking something like this, but I think that our butler, unlike the rest of them, is hiding something from me and my kids. I always knew that Specter had something to hide, likely regarding our immense fortune... but trying to find that out is like trying to get the Stabletown tailor, Ms. Axinite, to get dirty. She just won't allow it... anyway, there are a few things about Spiffy that rub me the wrong way that really shouldn't. First off, he's just like Specter. He's always so secretive... and considering he follows Specter when he goes to his "job" he lets no pony follow him to, he knows why... The other thing... his talent. I know that there are plenty of ponies who have other smaller talents that are accompanied by their main one that is planned on their flanks... but Spiffy's range of talents is abnormal to me. He can clean, cook at levels above any pony I know in Stabletown, learn at abnormal rates, great with animals, knows every inside and outside of every gear of the little devices that are around Stabletown... I even remember him instructing some of the pegusi on how to align the sky patterns, it's not normal I say! No pony should have that much knowledge, and be so talented at things they shouldn't have been able to do. Heck, it would have taken me a lifetime to learn what he knows, and get good at it. Today, I went up to speak to Spiffy. I could tell that he wasn't eager to talk to me, anticipating me to ask him about Specter... but instead I asked him about his cutie mark. Caught him off guard, I did. After regaining his composure, and thinking for a moment, he simply smiled and said to me "to serve". He then hurried off to instruct the other butlers on other various errands around the mansion... Spiffy is Specter's right hoof stallion, and along with my husband's secrets, I know he must have some of his own... and that's really what scares me the most. If they both have some big secret that I'm not supposed to know about... it must be big. And I'll bet by bottom bit that whatever secrets Specter has... It's somewhere in this massive mansion. Maybe one day I'll snoop around to see...

"I wonder when Madame 'll actually find out what Specter's up to... maybe if she wrote that down somewhere, I can read it and have an idea what to do next once I've caught..."

Something hit the filly... her sister, Rarity. She was the only one left now. All she had to do was catch her and she'd be done. She smiled, as the thought of seeing her sister again excited the filly. She was almost done...

Sweetie reached through the crib for the key. She took it out to examine it... it had a marble stuck to its base.

Better keep this on me. No doubt this is to Marbles' room.

She stuck the key into her saddlebags for safe keeping. Seeing no other use of the room, the filly decided to head back out... but then she had a thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a mirror covered by a white sheet. Though she didn't have her camera, and probably couldn't use it, she was curious how she looked now.

Sweetie went over to the covered mirror and hopped on the sheet covered stool right in front of the dresser the mirror stood on. She yanked the sheet off, and was shocked at what she saw in the reflection. It wasn't that her coat had gone a significant couple of shades darker, or the fact she looked dirty and beaten as some pony who'd just exited a mine... she knew she'd see that. What she didn't see however, was the cutie marks of her friends that had kept her alive through the carnival.

"Where in the hay did they go?" Sweetie said to herself. It didn't make sense. One minute they weren't there, then they were there, then they weren't there again... It took a moment for Sweetie to figure that the time that the marks appeared on her depended on where she was, like when they only showed up at the carnival... the question became however, what was the difference? Sweetie sighed. Well... I guess if they aren't here, it's for the better. I wasn't looking forward to trying to explain it to the mares anyway...

Sweetie hopped down from the stool and headed back out into the hallway. Making sure she was still headed in the opposite direction of the plane, she continued to look around for a screwdriver, that she was otherwise defenseless without...

***

Sweetie continued down the hallway, faster than before. The longer the filly was in the hallway, the colder she felt, indicating that there were likely ghosts somewhere nearby. She stopped looking through rooms in any particular detail, now only opening each door and glancing inside to see if there was anything peculiar. She only wanted to find something to fix her GCD with as quickly as possible... it was around this time Sweetie regretted using it to save herself from Twilight's ghost. She kept her mind occupied by thinking of ways she could have gone about it differently.

"Maybe I could have shot a book at the window? The library was full of 'em..." Sweetie said to herself, poking her head into yet another identical looking room. After seeing nothing special about it, she took her head out and headed to the next door she hadn't checked. "No... I was too dizzy, and there wasn't really enough time for me to reach down and get a book from the shelf I was standing on..."

Sweetie reached for the doorknob and attempted to turn it. It was locked. "Don't think the throwback would have worked either. Ectoplasm's too soft I think... maybe I could have used one of the books in my bag?"

Sweetie headed forward to the next door. She'd stopped hoping for doors to be open or different at this point. She was more running on an automatic function. Just check, move on, repeat. By now, she was more waiting than hoping for anything. What the filly couldn't figure out was what she was waiting for in the first place.

"Well... I didn't really have anything besides the two books, my map, and the screwdriver I wish I didn't use..." Sweetie said as she turned the new doorknob. "Hm... well, I probably was a good thing I didn't use the ghostbook... wouldn't have gotten far without it..." She pushed the door, opening it as she stuck her head inside. "And if I wasn't kept somewhat in the loop with that journal, I wouldn't know anything really. I'd probably go crazy like-... huh, this is new."

There was definitely something different about this new room. Unlike the other rooms, which were significantly lit by the moonlight, this new room was pitch black. This probably only meant that there weren't any windows in the room... but it was different, and that was more than enough reason for Sweetie to explore it. The filly was hesitant at first, knowing that this had to be some kind of ambush. She didn't know if it was the sheer coldness she felt, or her paranoia red flag going off the charts as she slowly headed into the room.

Once she was a couple feet inside, the door shut behind her. click

"No, no, no!" Sweetie said, shining her flashlight on the door, yanking on the door. It was no use. It was locked and she was stuck in the room.

Great. How could things possibly get worse than this? Sweetie thought.

Rather than being bombarded by ghosts, the exact opposite happened. Candles lit up the room along the red walls, allowing for Sweetie to see the perimeter of the room without her flashlight. The odd thing however, was that the candles seemed to be weaker than usual. The center of the room however, remained black. For the moment, Sweetie turned it off and stuck it back into her saddlebags.

Against one of the walls, Sweetie could barely notice a tool box that blended in with the red paint it was against. Now we're getting somewhere... the filly thought as she walked around to the wall. She did her best to keep out of the darkness on an instinct, feeling nervous of what was in there. Once she made it over, she opened the box and began to search. C'mon... screwdriver. Screwdriver. Momma needs a... ha ha! Sweetie cheered in her own mind. Finally, she came across a yellow handled screwdriver similar to the one she found back in the theater. Chances were, it was similar enough to use to fix her GCD too...

Sweetie wasted no time in taking the GCD off of her back and proceeding to screw in the loose bolts on the GCD. As they fell into place, Sweetie could have sworn she heard a giggle.

C'mon Jumpie! That tickles!

"...I've got to be hearing things. Please Celestia, let me just be crazy..." Sweetie said to herself.

Once the bolts were screwed in tight, the giggling stopped, and the room was silent again for a few seconds. A piece of the pink sludge was cut off from the GCD and fell to the ground.

Reactivating Ghost Capture Device vacuum motors. Device basic functions activated. Device add-ons initiated. the GCD said.

Ok... at least that's taken care of. Now all I need to do is get out of here... no ghosts to fight, so there must be a key!... I think. Sweetie figured.

Pomph!

Sweetie heard the sound of candles spontaneously lighting behind her. She turned around to see the center of the room lit. In the center was what Sweetie saw to be some kind of... model. Sweetie went over to investigate...

What the hay...? Sweetie thought as she figured out what she was looking at. She figured it out almost instantly when she saw the two three biggest structures of the model: A Ferris wheel, a floating roller-coaster network with no definable bottom according to the model, a giant circus tent... there was no doubt in Sweetie's mind that this was the Carnival/Circus place she'd escaped. There seemed to be small pieces of rope tangled and scattered on the different segments of the carnival, all stemming to a torch that magically hovered above the model. What the hay is this doing here... Sweetie wondered. ...Wait a second, this isn't right.

The Ferris wheel was next to the haunted house, the carousel was next to the circus tent, and the main entrance was right in front of the floating roller-coaster. Sweetie also noticed that an entire portion of the carnival was missing altogether. Instead, it was a black square spot with an outline of a square on its edges. It was of the same perimeter and area of the other parts of the carnival.

Wait a sec... I've seen something like this before. Can I... Sweetie thought as she attempted to move the haunted house segment over into the empty spot. The filly couldn't get a good grip on the house, so she tried using her GCD to suck it over to the spot instead. The piece moved effortlessly as it slid out of the square area it was bound to, revealing a similar outline to the blank spot of the model. Yeah! This is like one of those slide things we kept in Ms. Cheerilee's class for rainy days...

***

Thunder rolled over the skies of Ponyville. Thunderstorms were a rare occurrence for regions in and around Ponyville, let alone during school and professional days. However, thanks to a certain temporary weather pegusis known as Derpy Hooves, an entire month of clouds were lost, putting the town in a drought. In such occasions, weather pegusi would get together and create large heavy storms in order to make up for the lost water.

Ms. Cheerilee explained this, minus the part about Ditzy Doo to keep from embarrassing the filly and for her mother's mistake, to the school ponies who sat before her now.

"And because the storm is so strong and dangerous..." she breathed, knowing she couldn't stall any longer. "Recess outside will be canceled for today, and likely tomorrow if the storm is still happening."

As she'd expected, just like the morning-class, groans of disappointment filled the classroom.

"Oh c'mon Cheerilee." Scootaloo complained from the back of the classroom. "It's just water."

"And wind going near 200 miles an hour. I'm not sure even the Wonderbolts themselves could fly in this kind of weather." Ms. Cheerilee added. "And that's Miss Cheerilee to you young lady."

"Yeah... but Rainbow Dash could." Scootaloo said. "Right Sweetie?"

"Hm?" Sweetie said, snapping out of her daze. "Sorry, I'm just mourning the death of the recess I thought we had."

"I never said you weren't having recess did I?" Cheerilee said. "I'm just simply saying that you'll be able to occupy your time with something else."

"Like wha'" Pipsqueak asked in his normal Pontish accent.

"Well, there are plenty of board games in-" Cheerilee started.

"Ugh, those are so BORING!" Scootaloo said.

"Scootaloo, be quiet already." Sweetie whispered to her friend. The last thing she wanted was the filly to earn another detention from the mare of whom she was getting on the last nerve of. Sweetie could see annoyance welling up in the mare's eye, as she swore she saw it twitch once. "Uh, what she means is... what kind of games do you have?"

Cheerilee took a breath. "Well, we have 'Ponopaly', 'Troting and Clopping', 'Sliding Tiles Treasure', 'Word Stampede', 'Apples to- "

One of the games, Sweetie had never heard of. As she opened her mouth to ask, Pipsqueak beat her to it, raising his hoof and speaking. "Ms. Cheerilee? Wha' was that third one? I've never heard of it."

"Sliding Tiles?" Cheerilee asked. "Oh, right. That's an older game based off of the Daring Doo novels."

Scootaloo's wings erected at the mention of the novel Rainbow Dash idolized. "Alright, now we're talkin'. How do you play?"

"Well... the game is based off of a sequel in which Daring must solve different puzzles, in this case, a tile sliding one, in order to activate mechanisms to get the treasure. The rules are similar in the game. The pony who can solve the most puzzles in the given time wins."

Scootaloo's wings went back to their sides at the thought of a puzzle. "Oh... well I guess it's worth a try."

"I'll play it too." Sweetie said, wanting to play the same game as her friend.

"Me too!" Pipsqueak said happily.

"Alright. You three can play this." Cheerilee said, heading under her desk to pull out the game box. She handed it to the three of them as they came up to the front to collect it. "As for the rest of you, I'll place other games you can pick from. Play nice." The game box depicted Daring in front of a large area, with tiles scattered around a stone temple. Daring had an inquisitive look on her face as she tried to decipher the puzzle. At the bottom of the box, it said: 'Can you guide Daring Doo to the treasure of the lost temple?'

As the other school ponies

"This game looks pretty cool." Scootaloo said. "I wonder why I haven't heard of it?"

"Maybe because you don't read the Daring Doo books... let alone at all." Sweetie smiled.

"Hey, I read that one book." Scootaloo mentioned.

"Written by Rainbow Dash, illustrated by Rainbow Dash and edited by Rainbow Dash."

"It was pretty long though. A full blown novel." Scootaloo said.

"I think I read that too... How I Got My Epic Cutie Mark and Made A Rainbow by Ms. Dash? Wasn't that like... 5 pages?" Pipsqueak said.

"You’re not helping Pip." Scootaloo said.

"Am I supposed to be?" Pipsqueak asked.

"Let's just play the game." Scootaloo said, putting her hooves on the box. "Ok, let's see what we've got here..."

Scootaloo opened the box. There was a square with light green outlines to form it into a grid. Around the square, there were bags with smaller tiles that seemed just about the same size as each square. The three children looked at the game in confusion.

"... forget it. I'm playin' something else." Scootaloo said. "You two have fun with it."

"Oh, c'mon Scoots." Sweetie said, trying to convince Scootaloo to play.

"Nope." Scootaloo said, as she headed over to Dinky, Snips and Snails, who were playing Ponopaly. "Alright you three, I call the cloud."

“But you’re always the cloud!” Dinky whined.

"Guess she's out." Sweetie said. Sweetie was ready to follow her friend, until she noticed that Pipsqueak was still genuinely interested in the game. The two weren't the greatest of friends, but Sweetie wasn't about to leave the little colt to play by himself. "I guess we can figure it out ourselves, right Pip?"

Pipsqueak nodded happily, as they both smiled. They opened up one of the bags and proceeded to place the tiles on the square board. Once they were set Sweetie looked at the board, realizing something. "Hey, Pip, I think this board is missing a piece."

Pipsqueak examined the board, then shook his head. "No, I think this is about right. Ms. Cheerilee said this was a sliding game, right? Maybe we're supposed to slide the tiles. Try it."

Sweetie took heed to Pipsqueak's hypothesis, and moved one of the tiles next to the empty spot into that spot. "Hey... don't you think this kind of looks like a picture? Like a square jigsaw puzzle?"

"I guess we have to figure out how to slide the picture into place, huh?"

The two messed with the puzzle for the few hours that were left in the school day. Cheerilee decided not to interrupt the children as they seemed to get engrossed in the various board games she'd lied out for them... either that or she was napping too long to realize when the indoor recess should have ended. Sweetie and Pipsqueak worked on the puzzle, barely making any real progress. They still managed to have fun as friends, talking and laughing as they tried to decipher the puzzle of the great explorer until-

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

The school bell rung, indicating the end of the school day. The school-ponies then proceeded to put away their games... all except Sweetie. Pipsqueak and Scootaloo stopped to see Sweetie still at the puzzle. Once they both had their coats put on, they went over to Sweetie.

"Uh, Sweetie? Schools over." Pipsqueak said.

"Right, I know." Sweetie said. "Just a couple more minutes."

"You’re still at that puzzle thing?" Scootaloo groaned.

"Mmmhmm." Sweetie said.

"Listen guys. I gotta go. Mum 'll kill me if I'm late in this storm. See ya Scootaloo. See ya Sweetie."

"Yeah, see ya Pip..." Sweetie mumbled, not taking her eyes off of the puzzle. Scootaloo silently waved as he headed out of the door into the rain.

"Sweetie, you know Rarity'll probably kill you too if you're late." Scootaloo said.

"Rarity wouldn't notice If I were a couple hours late." Sweetie said bitterly. "She's so into her celebrity ponies, she can barely glance at the clock."

“Right, sore subject. Guess you’re still steaming over that fight…” Scootaloo said. Sweetie didn’t answer. After a few minutes, Scootaloo sighed. "Look Sweetie, sorry to break it to you, but you’re not gonna solve that thing any time soon."

"Huh?" Sweetie asked, looking up at her friend.

"Well... no offense, but you’re not the brightest pony out there." Scootaloo grinned sheepishly. "Doubt you'd finish it before tomorrow. Let alone… you know. Ever."

Sweetie smiled cockily. "Wanna bet?"

"If you could solve that sliding whatever before the end of school tomorrow, I'll..." Scootaloo thought. "I'll do your and Applebloom's homework for a week."

Sweetie laughed. "You don't even do your own!"

Scootaloo smiled at her friend. "Yeah. Guess we'll figure out what tomorrow huh? If you can, that is."

"You can count on it." Sweetie said.

"Alright, see ya Sweets. Don't stay too long." Scootaloo said. "I heard the rats love to come out at night."

***

As Sweetie finished her memory, she'd also just about completed the puzzle. There were a few things she had to consider as she worked around it, such as the fact she couldn't move the floating roller-coaster, and the range in which she could suck up the circus models... but she managed to figure it out in good time.

In the meantime, the filly was relieved that she could finally remember something that wasn't changed. It must have been another thing that came with the switching of worlds... but it didn't matter. As long as she still had the memories of who and what she was fighting for, she was sure she could keep moving forward.

Thanks Pip... Sweetie thought. Like Scootaloo said, Sweetie wasn't the best when it came to puzzles, but if it weren't for the little colt, she would have never guessed how to solve the puzzle... maybe she would thank him once she got back to Ponyville...

She used her GCD to suck in the last remaining piece into place. Now, everything seemed to be in place. The entrance was at the bottom, followed by a row of booths, the Ferris wheel, the food court, the center, the mirrored maze, the haunted house, the roller coaster, and finally, the circus tent. Sweetie suddenly felt a sense of pride, now looking at the path she'd managed to traverse. The odd thing though was that the ropes connected to the torch that were previously tangled, now seemed to be neatly set along the path that she'd taken. The filly wondered what would happen if she burned the torch and the ropes it was connected to...

Sweetie went for the candles surrounding the model and used her Elemental Capture to consume the flames. Because the candle fire was so small, she didn't have much to work with, and she still wanted to keep enough light so that she wouldn't get so dark that she'd need her flashlight again. In order to ensure Sweetie got as much success igniting the flame as possible, she climbed up onto the model, careful not to damage any of the structures, or misplace any of the ropes. Once she was close enough, she gave the floating torch a good puff of flame. It ignited effortlessly, along with the rope.

As the flame spread across the rope, lighting up every area Sweetie had been through with a bright orange flame, Sweetie heard something. It wasn't the sound of fire crackling, but it was a whistle. A small whistle Sweetie could only compare to when her sister would heat up water in her tea pot... an instinct in Sweetie told her to get off of the carnival model now.

The filly leaped over the rides and booths as fast as she could, just in time to get off of the model platform as it blew up in a fiery blazed. Another trap... Sweetie figured. Why did I expect any less?

It didn't end there. Suddenly, as Sweetie lied on her stomach in front of the blazing inferno atop the platform, she heard a ghostly laugh. The candles along the walls and around the model went out. The only light now illuminating the room was the fire trap she'd triggered. Sweetie noticed that the fire was dying quickly, and was almost positive she'd be in trouble when it went out. Thinking fast, the filly used her GCD to suck up some of the flames to defend herself with. She'd learned many times before that she couldn't rely solely on her flashlight to combat against ghosts... hopefully flames would work as well as ice did.

By the time Sweetie's GCD was half filled with the fire essence, the fire was dead, putting Sweetie into the world of darkness once again. Sweetie felt the temperature of the room drop drastically. She readied her flashlight, shining it around the room, waiting for any ghost to phase through the wall. She was determined not to let them scare her-

Three butler ghosts popped out of nowhere, surrounding Sweetie at a radius of about a yard. Sweetie jumped back at their sudden right into the hooves of one of the ghosts. It wrapped its forearms around Sweetie, trapping her as she dropped the flashlight. The filly struggled to get free, however it was no use. Her body was becoming too numb too fast for her to do anything significant. She still however, had her hoof close enough to the GCD to activate it.

Sweetie's body stung with frostbite as she moved her hoof barely an inch to set the GCD Elemental Capture to expel. Once the two ghosts were within a hoof's length, she hit the button on the GCD nozzle. A burst of flames consumed her and the four ghosts. The heat was both refreshing and painful at the same time to Sweetie's front. It wasn't enough to hurt her, but the rapid change from cold to hot stung even more than the coldness of the ghost. She even felt a bit of the coat hairs on her stomach get singed by the flame. The ghosts however, weren't as adept to heat and light as she was.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

While the first ghost holding was simply hit by the light of the fire, the other ghosts, much like her, were hit by the flame itself. Their natural glow was overshadowed by the light of the flame as they ignited like a match. Their laughter turned to high pitched screaming as they flew around the room in futile attempts at extinguishing the flames.

The ghost holding on to Sweetie let go and disappeared to repair its light shield and regain its chill from any heat it had consumed from Sweetie's flame. Once Sweetie was free, the filly didn't hesitate to switch her GCD back to its ghost catching mode in order to capture the two ghosts.

...3, yank!210. Magic Depleted. Capturing Ghost. the GCD said as the two ghosts were sucked into the confines of the GCD spectral containment pack. The second and third lights of the GCD lit up. Capture successful. Warning: GCD capacity at 50 percent.

Ok. One more butler left... sure to be more. It's never that easy. Sweetie thought, readying herself for any other hostiles. She picked up her flashlight and stuck it back in her mouth, just in time for a licker to spin up in front of her.

Ding!

The glowing red licker had popped up right in front of Sweetie's light. Its grinning face went to horror in its mistake.

"Ha! Saw you coming!" Sweetie said as she sucked up the licker. The fourth light on the Sweetie's back lit green. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Alright! Who's next?! I'll take on every last one of you!"

Sweetie's moment of triumph and cockiness didn't last long as the room filled with laughter, louder than she'd experienced so far. On the far side of the room, three green butler ghosts phased through the wall... but they weren't normal ones. They were skeleton butlers... the ones Sweetie's light barely even worked on. Through the left wall came yet another licker and a foal ghost. To the right came another similar pair.

As Sweetie's light went out instantly, her ears went down and her eyes dilated in fear. A bead of sweat went down the back of her head and mixed into her mane. "H-hey, guys. Y-y-you know I was kidding, right?" The ghosts’ laughter only got louder. Sweetie felt like covering her ears in an effort to block out their immense volume, but she shook her head. She wasn't going to give in to them now. Even if she was outnumbered, weaker, slower, less floaty... Sweetie got into the fighting stance Rainbow had shown her in the safe room. She wasn't as expert like with it as she was back at the carnival, but it was enough to show the ghosts she meant business... at least it was better than her "menacing" face as her teeth chattered in her skull. The ghosts’ laughter volume lowered slightly, allowing for Sweetie to process her thoughts normally.

Here we go... can't afford any mistakes in this closed room... Sweetie thought. Just need to stay focused. I'm not going to die here.

Sweetie gave the first attack, quickly switching to her GCD Spectral Throwback and hitting the middle skele-ghost. As she'd hoped, the flying ectoplasm did damage. However, rather than defeating the ghost, it simply damaged the skeletal armor, knocking it out of the ghost's body into the wall behind it.

Ok, Skele-ghosts: 2 hits with the GCD Throwback to beat 'em. One hit makes them normal. Got it. Sweetie noted.

Seeing their comrade defenseless, the second grinning skele-ghost got in front of the middle one as the third charged for Sweetie. Sweetie dodged to the left and ran forward as one of the foal ghosts took a shot of ectoplasm at the filly. The tip of Sweetie's tail caught a bit of the goo, but over all, she managed to dodge it as it splattered onto the ground behind her.

Meanwhile, one of the red lickers flew up besides Sweetie and lashed its tongue out at her. She once again narrowly dodged it as she strafed to the right. She didn't however, escape the edge of its tongue as it slid across the side of her coat. Though it wasn't enough to knock her down, the filly did feel somewhat colder and weaker from the attack. Sweetie didn't let the licker have another go as she gave a shot of ectoplasm to the licker’s face, causing it to hit the wall and disappear for good. Three one of the green lights on Sweetie's back went red.

One down, a hayload to go. Sweetie thought exhaustedly.

Though the foal ghost was within range for her to shoot without missing, the filly knew best to save them for last. As a part of her strategy, she kept them around in case she needed to use their excursions for ammo. Instead, she shot at the second closest thing she could: the second skele-ghost. Much like the first ghost, the skeletal armor shot out of its body, whizzing past the ghost it was defending, and into the wall. Though Sweetie's hooves still shook from the immediate kickback the GCD gave upon firing a throwback, she managed to get in another shot, both ghosts and causing them to disappear like the lickker.

Sweetie saw the final skele-ghost coming after her. She aimed her GCD at it, ready to destroy its light shield. Sweetie hit the button to fire a throwback.

Portrait Ghost left. No other ammunition available. the GCD said.

Of course not. Sweetie thought, cursing her negligence to count what she had left. The ghost rammed into the filly knocking her down. Sweetie managed to get up and dodge it as it came around for another attack. Sweetie circled around the skele-ghost, and dodged the licker’s tongue as it lashed out at her. She made it to where the foal ghost had previously spat at her and sucked the ectoplasm up into her GCD. She then proceeded to fire a shot of ectoplasm at one of the foal ghosts. It was a direct hit, causing it to disappear now.

Ok... there's three ghosts left. That means... Sweetie thought, looking down at the flashlight still clamped down between her teeth. Sure enough, the light device flickered on, illuminating her front path. Sweetie circled back around the way she came to the licker. The red ghost tried to defend itself by trying to get a lick on the filly, however, Sweetie ducked just in time as she felt the chilling tongue graze her mane. She swept her flashlight in an upward direction to the licker.

Ding!

Sweetie went to suck up the licker, now that its light shield was broken.

...4, yank!3210. Capturing ghost. the GCD said.

Sweetie whirled around to face the skele-ghost coming right for her. She immediately switched back to her throwback shot it with ectoplasm. It staggered back from the force as it's skeletal armor was ripped out. Sweetie charged for the ghost and lit it with her flashlight.

Ding!

Sweetie sucked up the butler ghost and turned back around to face the foal ghost, who was no longer laughing. It simply stared at the filly as she gave her own confident grin. "See ya." she said as she shot the foal with her last bit of ectoplasm. The ghosts were gone and no more came. Sweetie sighed in relief as the candles re-lit themselves. She was safe for now.

Ok... besides nearly getting myself killed, what did that accomplish? Sweetie thought. Her first idea was to check out the door. Unfortunately, it was still locked, and she was still trapped. That hadn't changed. Sweetie then turned back around to face the model... it was a heap of ash now... or was it? She went over to the ash pile to get a closer look. Where the ropes had burned... there were embers. The glowing red embers were in particular shapes... they were numbers. Numbers 1 through 9 were writing in glowing red. They weren't in any particular order, and for the moment, Sweetie couldn't figure out for the life of her what it could mean... but after a few more seconds of examination, a thought came to her head.

Could they be mansion floors? she thought. The font the embers were written out reminded Sweetie of her map and when it labeled which floor she was on. If that were true... then each area represented a floor of the mansion. Sweetie looked over at the pile of ash in which she could vaguely make out to be the food court. It had the number 8 written on it. That must have meant the camera was on the eighth floor. Sweetie made a point to remember that.

The numbers weren't the only thing peculiar about the burnt model. Also, in the mist of the ash, a yellow chest with a red crystal at the lock had appeared. Sweetie stuck her flashlight back in her bag to investigate. Sweetie examined the chest, seeing that it had no keyhole, so Sweetie assumed she could just open it. It took a moment to realize she had to press the red crystal to release the lock. Once it was open, she took out each thing she found inside.

The first thing Sweetie found... was an apple... not an ordinary apple, but a dessert apple, namely Pinkie's Sweetie Apple Surprise. The filly got a chill of fear, followed by a groan of hunger upon looking at the treat.

"Please don't tell me what I think this means..." Sweetie said out loud. The last thing she wanted was to get the news that Pinkie was still loose. Sweetie then noticed a small note nailed to the apple. It was written in pink ectoplasm... apprehensively, Sweetie read it.

Dear Jumpie,

Good job catching me and those other c-a-razy ghosts! Didn't think you had it in you really, but don't think I'm done having fun with you yet! I've got one more super dooper fun game we can play before you get out of here. This one, I think you'll like the most... oh, I'll keep it a surprise for now, but trust me Jumpie. This one's gunna b gud he he he....It's also the only way off of this floor actually. I blocked all of the exits, so don't bother looking for any other ways around it... but don't worry. I promise. You'll want to play this one. See ya Jumpie!

OXOXOXXO

With Love <3,

Pinkamina Diane Pie

"Pinkie Pie. Even if you catch her, she'll still manage to mess with you." Sweetie sighed. "I wonder what this last game is, and why it's so special...?"

Sweetie tested the hardness of Pinkie's candy apple. Unlike the previous ones, this one was hard and seemed to retain some warmth, indicating it couldn't have been made more than an hour ago. Sweetie decided to put away the apple for now, in case it somehow proved useful. She stuck it in a separate pocket of her saddlebags, so the caramel wouldn't stick to the other various items inside.

Sweetie took out the next item, which she identified to be some kind of science beaker with a large cork on top. It glowed green, and seemed to be coated with a thin layer of ectoplasm on the inside. "Huh. Wonder what this is for? Might as well keep it. Wouldn't be here without a reason, right?" Sweetie put the beaker inside of her saddlebags.

"What else, what else..." Sweetie said, going back to the chest. She next took out a piece of paper. It was a journal page... it was written by Specter this time.

June 27th 852 A.C

After the close encounter my dear sweet Sunflower, and my supplies... she hasn't trusted me. She doesn't say it flat out, but I can see it in her eyes 20/7. When we eat, when we walk, when we make love... she gives me the suspicion of a criminal, rather than a lover... I'm even getting the vibe she's trying to get my children on her side, rather than my own... but who could blame her, I suppose. That suspicion however, isn't why I've chosen to write today. I've written because of the semi-traumatic phenomenon that has occurred that I must have on record in case he makes me forget... In order to release some tension between Sunflower, my children and I, I bought us tickets to the Stabletown fair. I was never one to take my children to such... may I say 'commoner' events. I respect the general population a great deal, but there's always that danger when you have such a large amount of money like me... not to mention my line of work. In any case, we went, we had fun, the normal for a family outing as such... but things went bad when Sunflower and I separated with our kids. I'm not sure the details of how it started, but all I know is that Candy had a phobiapahy episode today. She ran amok though the carnival, and started a fire somewhere on the other side of the carnival... I'm not sure how, but considering it started in the second food court, I could only imagine in her fear, she knocked over something flaming... that's not important though. What's really important is what followed. Once the fire started and spread, naturally, my dear Sunflower attempted to put it out with her ability to manipulate flames... but she didn't put them out, oh no. Instead, when she touched the flames with her magic, they grew... no, exploded. I heard it from my side of the carnival, it was enough to stop the pie eating contest. Oblivious to any danger my lovely wife and child might be in, I followed the example of the other ponies and stallions and went for the entrance of the carnival. Thankfully, less than 20 minutes later, I was met with her, tears streaming down her eyes with Candy, holding on fearfully to the back of her neck. The fire spread quickly, engulfing the flames in an unquenchable fire. It took another good hour for the weather ponies to build up enough clouds to legitimately fight the fire. In the end however, very few injuries were reported and no deaths were registered... but that's not what scared me. This was my love's talent. To manipulate flames to her will, but in this case, she couldn't even control them it just didn't add up. I wondered if ........... but unlike the rest of Equestria, Stabletown, though it has plenty other problems, hasn't experienced any of those kinds of phenomena.......we had.......eal

Some of the last parts of the journal entry were scratched out. Something was really up, and Sweetie knew it. What the hay was Specter talking about? Why had Madame's talent turned from controlling flames, to making them spread out of control? Just more questions...

Sweetie placed her newest entry into the journal and went for the final item in the chest. It was a skeleton key.

"Finally, we're getting somewhere." Sweetie thought. The filly didn't bother putting this into her bag, having a pretty good idea what it was for. Sweetie went back over to the locked door and stuck the key inside. As she'd hoped it was a perfect fit. She turned it and opened the door to exit. As she left the room, the candles flickered out and the room was dark aside from the faint moonlight that streamed through the opening in the door. Once again, checking to make sure that she was still heading in the right direction, Sweetie continued down the hallway to see what else she could find...

***

After looking through a few rooms, Sweetie finally made it to the end of the hallway. She stood in front of the window that the moonlight mainly shined through. Upon arriving at the dead end, Sweetie saw what Pinkie meant through her note. To her right was what she assumed was another branch of the hallway. The path was blocked by a wall of boards nailed up to each other. The filly attempted to use her body to break it down, but it was no use. Either she was too weak, or it was too strong. In whatever case, that hallway was blocked off. To the left of the filly was a stairway. Much like the one on the 4th floor, this one also had its planks ripped out, reducing it to nothing more than a pit. Sweetie sighed, realizing she had no other choice but to play Pinkie's "game". She turned back around to face the opposite direction to head back to the plane... but she stopped.

Down the hallway, she saw a glowing blue figure approach her. It was a unicorn ghost... no, it was a pegasus... no... it was an alicorn.

Sweetie's eyes contracted in fear, knowing it could be only one pony. The raiser of the moon and princess of the night: Princess Luna. Sweetie watched as she approached the filly. Fear consumed her as she got closer and closer. Sweetie knew the power that alicorns had. She'd learned both in and out of school that alicorns were said to be the closest things mortals have come to gods. Proven by the church she'd visited earlier, they were even worshiped as legends. Sweetie knew that she couldn't hope to tame that kind of power...

But could Specter? Sweetie thought. She remembered Specter saying that Celestia and Luna had unimaginable willpower... maybe she wasn't here to kill her. She wasn't even grinning like a ghost... Maybe she'd somehow escaped Specter's grasp? The thought caused the filly's heart to slow down a bit in her chest as Luna's distance grew shorter.

Sweetie stepped forward. "P-princess Luna?" she called.

The alicorn stopped in her tracks, staring at Sweetie. There was a pause for a moment before Luna finally spoke.

"FILLY! TH-OU ART THE S-ISTER OF THE ELEM-ENTS?" She called. She seemed to be using her trademark Royal Canterlot Voice. It was quieter than she'd imagined, but she was definitely speaking way louder than any normal pony should have.

It took Sweetie a moment to process what the princess had just said. She was the sister of Rarity, the Element of Generosity...

"Yeah! I'm Rarity's sister! Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie said.

"SWEET-TIE BELLE?" Princess Luna asked.

"Yeah! I don't know if you've met her, but she's an element too!" Sweetie said. She was getting tired of yelling, so she began to walk over to her. Luna followed her example and began to walk toward her as well.

"S-WEETIE! S-TO-P NOW!" Luna warned. Her words seemed forced, as though it were painful to speak every word that she yelled.

"Huh? Why?" Sweetie asked, not stopping her walk.

Luna's horn glowed blue, as though she were charging a spell. "BECAUSE I ART ABOUT TO KILL THOU!" She said.

Sweetie's eyes went big as an instinct caused her to fall to her stomach and duck as a blue bolt of lightning whizzed over her head. "Woah! What the hay was that for?!"

"I HATH NO C-ON-TRO-L OVER M-YSE-LF! R-R-RUN!" Luna yelled as she extended her wings, their length nearly taking up the entire width of the hallway. Sweetie scrambled to her feet and ran for Luna as she charged back. She had to get past her, as the path behind her was a dead end. As Luna had her wings extended, she also blocked the path in front of Sweetie... all but a small opening in the area between Luna's left foreleg and wing. It was small, but if Sweetie ran perfectly through it, she might be able to get past the mare. Sweetie leaped through the hole as Luna went to the side ever so slightly in an effort to help the filly get by. Sweetie rolled over, her outer coat freezing from the close encounter with the incredibly powerful ghost.

Sweetie looked back at Luna as she turned around to face the filly. Now, she wore the same ghostly grin as the other ponies in the mansion. It twitched, showing some kind of futile resistance on the mare's part.

"ha.... hahaha...RUN!" Luna forced.

Sweetie couldn't believe it. Specter had managed to break Luna, the second most powerful being in her mind, into doing his will.

"Ha...HaHAHAhahaha... RUN!" Luna ordered again.

Sweetie took a step back in disbelief, trying to force her legs to move.

"HaHAHEHAHARUNHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHARUNHAHAHAHA!" Luna laughed as she charged for another magic lightning bolt. That was enough to convince Sweetie to book it into the other direction, barely dodging Luna's second lightning attack.

Sweetie ran, putting every ounce of energy into her escape. She knew that the alicorn alive had enough speed to beat Rainbow Dash as a ghost, and that she had no chance of outrunning her. Hopefully the real Luna could keep her ghostly counterpart slow enough to come up with a plan of action. For now, all she could do was run as fast as her little filly legs could carry her.

Sweetie passed by many doors, and was almost sure that she'd passed more than she'd checked... no, she was almost sure. So far, the filly had left every door she'd come across open, and now, she was passing closed doors. That must have meant she had gone past her starting point... but the strange thing was, that she'd yet to come across the CMC plane. Had some pony taken it? If so, where and why?

Sweetie kept running, until she heard a screeching caw some distance in front of her. Sweetie skidded to a stop.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Sweetie yelled.

"I'm commin for ya Dumb Bell!" Gilda called from further down the hall. It was official. Between Luna and Gilda, Sweetie was trapped. She needed a plan, and fast. Somewhere to...

Sweetie looked up at the door in front of her. It was the etching of a marble... it had to be Marbles' room. Sweetie didn't waste time to reach into her saddlebags, and snatched out the key. She stuck it into the lock and turned. The door clicked open. Sweetie raced inside and slammed the door behind her. She put the key into the hole on the other side of the door, locking it.

That'll buy me some time. Sweetie thought panicked. Sweetie looked around the room. It was similar to Candy's room with the crib. The worst thing though, was the lack of hiding places Sweetie had other than under the crib, under the twin sized bed, behind the dresser, and in the closet. Even then, there was no doubt the mare and griffon would check all of those places. There was the window however... but Sweetie knew that even if she tried to escape out of there, she would never survive the fall to the bottom... but the window did give the filly an idea.

Sweetie ran over to the window and unlocked it. As she did, she heard Gilda from the other side of the door as she tried to enter.

"Break the damn door down mare!" Gilda ordered. Sweetie didn't have much time. Sweetie opened the window and laid Applejack's hat in front of it. She then sped over to the crib and hid under it as the door was busted down by a blue hoof.

Gilda and Luna entered the room. They both looked around the room suspiciously. Gilda went over to look in the closet for the filly. Sweetie nearly let out a gasp as Princess Luna almost instantly looked at Sweetie under the crib. Sweetie assumed, much like Celestia and Pinkie, that she had a sixth sense that allowed the mare to know Sweetie's exact location. Then mare didn't say anything however, biting her lip to keep quiet.

"Oh, Dumb Bell.... where are you..." Gilda asked. "Are you... under HERE!" Gilda asked quickly looking under the bed, as if to scare the filly should that have been her hiding spot.

"Or... are you over HERE!" Gilda asked, checking behind the dresser. Seeing that she wasn't over there, she grinned, knowing there was only one other spot the filly could hide in the room.

Gilda slowly went over to the crib. Sweetie closed her eyes and covered her head fearfully, knowing she was cornered...

"W-AIT!" Luna said, stopping the griffon.

"What the hay do you want?" Gilda asked her.

"SH-E'S NOT IN H-ERE." Luna said.

"What, do you think I'm stupid?" Gilda asked.

"N-O, B-UT I BE-LIEV-E YOU D-O LAC-K C-OMMON S-ENS-E." Luna said.

Gilda crossed her eyes and went over to the mare, standing over her.

"Alright wise pony. Tell me. Where is she?" Gilda asked.

"TH-E FILLY W-EN-T O-UT T-HE WIN-DOW!" Luna forced out, glancing over at Sweetie every few seconds. Thankfully, Gilda was too annoyed with Luna's insult to notice.

"The window?" Gilda asked, looking over at the window that was wide open. Gilda went over to investigate. She picked up Applejack's beaten up hat and examined it. She threw it behind her and looked out the window. "She must have jumped into the courtyard down there... no way she could have survived a fall like that."

"W-HY DO-TH T-HO-U NOT CH-EC-K?" Luna suggested, still unable to take her eyes off of Sweetie.

Gilda went over and angrily put her beak to Luna's muzzle. "Look princess. I don't care who you are, but you'd better remember somethin'. You don't order me around, got it? I call the shots."

"I W-AS M-ERE-LY MAK-ING A S-U-GES-TIO-N." Luna said.

It took a few seconds before Gilda cooled down and got off of Luna. "C'mon, and follow me down to the courtyard to look around for her. And quit that Royal Canterlot Crap, no pony likes it, and it's annoying."

Gilda flew down to the courtyard below. With one final look at Sweetie, she followed her new griffon master. Once they were gone, and Sweetie was sure she was safe, she sighed in relief. Sweetie was almost sure she would have a heart attack if she had any more close calls like that.

Sweetie lied under the crib for a few moments to let her heart slowdown in her chest, and regain her composure. As she became much more aware of her surroundings, she noticed a peculiar smell in the air.

"Ew... what is that?" Sweetie whispered out loud. She looked to her left to see that she was lying next to a moldy sandwich. "Yuck. Who hides a sandwich under their bed and forgets about it?" Sweetie noticed a sliver of yellow sticking out of the sandwich. Against her better judgment she slid it out of the sandwich. It was a slice of cheese, certainly better looking than the sandwich it was inside. Sweetie looked at the cheese, wondering why it hadn't aged like the sandwich... suddenly she heard something.

Squeak.

Though it was small, it was surprising enough for the filly to jump and hit the top of her head. "Ow..." she moaned, rubbing the umpteenth blow she'd received to her cranium. She looked forward to see that a little yellow ghost mouse had appeared right in front of her. "Oh, it's you again. Hi." Sweetie said softly. The mouse simply squeaked. Still holding the cheese, she crawled out from under the bed and walked to the center of the room to retrieve her hat. Once the hat was back on her head, Sweetie looked over to see that the mouse had followed her. "What?" Sweetie asked before looking at the cheese in her hoof. It squeaked eagerly. "Oh, you want this? Here you go little guy." Sweetie said, lying the slice of cheese in front of the mouse. Though Sweetie doubted the mouse had intentionally saved her life, she still felt she owed something to the little creature. After all, it was the only ghost besides Madame that didn't act hostile.

Hm... wait a second... could I use you again? Sweetie wondered. Sweetie reached into her bag and pulled out the beaker she'd recently found. She wondered...

Sweetie took the cork off of the beaker and placed its opening at the edge of the cheese, right next to the ghost mouse. She swept both the cheese and the mouse into the beaker. As Sweetie hoped, the mouse didn't phase through the glass or anything. It simply kept nibbling happily on the cheese. The glass must have been specially made to contain ghosts…

"Don't worry little guy. I won't keep you for much longer. I just need you for a little insurance..." Sweetie stuck the cork back onto the top of the beaker, trapping the mouse inside. She then stuck the beaker on her head under her hat to keep from having to shuffle around her bag for it in an emergency situation. Something told the filly that this last game of Pinkie's would involve something with her possessed friends...

Sweetie checked the crib, hoping that it might hold another item she would find useful. Inside the crib, there was a single key with a piece of peppermint stuck to its handle. Sweetie took it and pocketed it along with the marble key. There was no journal page to accompany it, and therefore, no other reason to stay in the room. Sweetie left the room, to face whatever the hallway had left to throw at her...

***

Sweetie had walked for a good 4 or 5 minutes. She'd stopped checking rooms, having a good feeling she'd see a door that held something interesting inside of it. As she continued to walk for those few minutes, continuing to see nothing but a string of similar looking doors, Sweetie thought about going back to check the doors she'd passed... but then she came across what she was looking for.

Sweetie stood in front of a large double door labeled "Play Room". On the two handles was a large lock with two key holes and a note taped to it. Sweetie took off the note and read it.

Well, this is it Jumpie. This is one of those climactic thingies that authors like to do to keep their readers reading. That means that when you enter this door, you’re going to have to make a choice, and you’re not going to have much time to make it. I really wish you could have caught me later so I could watch... but I guess we can't all have what we want huh? Still though, I saved the best for last and the last... for you. Don't die too quickly Jumpie, M'kay? Good luck... you'll need it.

Sweetie sighed as she folded up the note and put it in her saddle bags. She stuck the marble key and the peppermint key she'd collected into their locked and turned, releasing the lock and allowing Sweetie to enter. Sweetie gulped as she pushed the door open. and entered the play room.

Once inside, she saw... no one at first. It was just a normal play room. Toys were scattered along the floor, dusty from age. A balcony window was open, allowing a cool breeze to enter the room. Above the filly was the CMC paper airplane, hanging weakly by two ropes. One at the tip and one at the tail.

"Sweetie! How nice of you to join us." Spike said, revealing himself on the balcony.

"Let me guess... Spiffy?" Sweetie asked.

"Clever filly for you to make it this far. Wouldn't have expected you to make it this far when I let you into Yield Manor... Miss Belle." Spiffy/Spike said. "It's a shame that you weren't however, clever enough to realize that this was a trap."

The door shut behind Sweetie, causing her to jump a little. The filly didn't take her eyes off of Spiffy/Spike as she examined him. He didn't have any weapons on him... however he held a rope in his claws. Sweetie looked up to see that it was attached to a pulley hanging by the rope at the tip of the CMC plane. Sweetie wondered what it could be for. It didn't look like the other end was connected to the plane....

"Didn't really have much of a choice, Mr. Spiffy." Sweetie said.

"Young filly, there's always a choice. And I'm going to help you make one." Spiffy/Spike said.

From the top of the plane, Sweetie saw Candy/Applebloom and Marbles/Scootaloo pop their heads over the edge of the plane.

"What's up Sweetie Belle?" Candy/Applebloom asked through the knife in her muzzle.

"Yeah! Sorry about running off like that. Trust me. Nothing like that is gonna happen again." Marbles/Scootaloo said.

"You see Sweetie, our dear friend Pinkamina wanted us to play a little game." Spiffy/Spike said.

"Yeah! Pinkie kept saying this one would be the best." Marbles/Scootaloo said. Her grin was particularly wide.

"Well, are you going to tell me, or keep me in suspense?" Sweetie asked bitterly.

"Sure! Why not?" Candy/Applebloom said. The two of them jumped simutaniously on the plane, causing the ropes it was attached to, to break and cause the plane to fall down to the ground. It was then Sweetie gasped in horror, as she saw that the other end of the rope attached to the pulley was tied around Scootaloo's neck.

"No." Sweetie breathed.

"Here's how the game will work." Spiffy/Spike explained. "You have say... two minute to exorcise both Ms. Applebloom and Ms. Scootaloo here. If you don't..." Spiffy/Spike backed to the edge of the balcony. "I'll jump. As you could imagine, this will cause Mr. Spike to dangle for his life and Ms. Scootaloo to hang... and I'm sure you wouldn't want that on your conscience, hm? There is a way to save her however if you fail... but I'll let you figure that out if it come to that. Those are the rules."

T-two minutes to exorcise both of my friends, or they'll d-die? Sweetie thought. The filly still barely had any idea of how to exercise to begin with... did she? She remembered how the mouse scared Marbles/Scootaloo into running away... and that glow in his/her mouth... maybe she could scare the spirit out of her... but that still left Applebloom. She got scared when gooey things got in her hair... she didn't have any ectoplasm on her, but there was some on the plane. Sweetie's plan formulated in her head. It was something she could work with... but whatever the case was, Sweetie wasn't going to let her friends die.

"And... let the games begin." Spiffy/Spike said spreading his arms, indicating the start of the clock.

Marbles/Scootaloo charged at Sweetie as she dodged to the right, circling around the paper airplane.

"C'mon Sweetie. You’re supposed to be saving your friends. Not running away from them!" Marbles/Scootaloo laughed.

Candy/Applebloom leaped at Sweetie, attempting to cut her with her knife. Sweetie dodged again, as Applebloom attempted to swipe at the filly a good number of times. Sweetie received a few scratches in that time, but nothing enough to fatally wound the filly.

"Once you’re dead, we're gonna get Pinkie back, and then we're gonna go after your stupid grown-up friends!" Candy/Applebloom laughed.

After glancing at the orange filly, Sweetie noticed that rather than joining the fight, Marbles/Scootaloo simply sat by, watching as Candy/Applebloom kept the filly from her. All she had to do was wait until the minute was up... chances were, once Scootaloo's body was dead, Marbles would trade Scootaloo's body for hers... Sweetie wasn't prepared to let any of that happen. She had to stop the both of them... and she had a plan.

"One minute left Ms. Belle." Spiffy/Spike said.

Sweetie needed to get Candy/Applebloom off of her back and fast. Luckily, Sweetie noticed Candy/Applebloom get tired for a split second, opening her up to an attack. Sweetie seized the opportunity and rammed into the filly, knocking her onto the paper airplane. Sweetie didn't hesitate to leap off of the filly and over onto Scootaloo putting the filly on top of her.

"Not so nice the other way around huh?" Sweetie said, trying to remain as brave as possible as her friend's life was ticking away. It was time to reveal her secret weapon. Sweetie took off her hat and took out the jar. Scootaloo's body went weak for a moment at the sight of the creature.

"No. Anything but that!" Marbles/Scootaloo pleaded.

Sweetie released the cork, pouring the mouse and cheese onto Scootaloo's stomach. The mouse was oblivious to everything around it as it enjoyed its dairy product.

"No! Get it off of me!" Marbles/Scootaloo screamed, trying to get free of Sweetie. Between Marbles fear and inability to use the body he'd possessed correctly out of said fear, it was useless. "Get it off! GET IT OFF! GET IT!!! AAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAH!" Scootaloo's mouth and eyes glowed as they went wide open. Marbles flew out of Scootaloo's body screaming and rubbing his body in attempts to get a mouse off that wasn't even there. Its tail was still somewhat inside of Scootaloo's mouth.

Sweetie had but a few seconds now to get Candy out of Applebloom before Marbles' phobiapathy wore off and he flew back into Scootaloo. Sweetie noticed that the filly was still somewhat lying on the plane, looking up at her brother as he screamed. Sweetie seized the opportunity and leaped off of Scootaloo's unconscious body and over onto Applebloom, catching the filly off guard. Sweetie got on top of Candy/Applebloom in the same manner she did with Scootaloo.

Applebloom spit the knife out of her mouth, loosely into her hoof. She tried to stab Sweetie at her side, however the filly managed to knock it out of the air, and cause her to drop it.

"Thirty Seconds left." Spiffy/Spike said.

Sweetie bent down and hugged Candy/Applebloom by the abdomen and rolled over once toward the tip of the tail, where the ectoplasm was. Candy/Applebloom saw how close her head was getting to the substance. Once Sweetie had wrestled her over to the green glowing splotch, the filly struggled to keep her head and mane up from touching the goo.

"No! NO!" Candy/Applebloom cried in much the same way as Marbles.

"Now, get out of my FRIEND!" Sweetie screamed as she forced the filly's head into the goo. The filly's red mane was covered in the goo, causing her to start hyperventilating before screaming madly. Just like Scootaloo, Applebloom's mouth and eyes began to glow before Candy flew out of Applebloom, leaving the filly unconscious.

"Time to end this." Sweetie said as she went into her saddlebags and snatched out her flashlight. Quickly she swept the two children with her flashlight, so much so, she lost her grip and threw the flashlight across the room.

Ding! Ding!

"Gotcha!" Sweetie yelled as she started to suck them up with the GCD dual capture.

20,19,18,17... the GCD said monotone.

At the sound of the vacuum and the feeling of the magic being taken off of their bodies, the two children began to panic. Like the other ghosts, the two tried to escape the GCD's grasp, but since they kept going in the opposite direction of each other, Sweetie wasn't dragged around as much as she might catching one ghost.

...14,13yank!1211109, 8...

The two children's screams got louder and louder. Their tails had yet to leave the mouths of her friends, limiting their movements as well. In a nutshell, they were tied down by the bodies they possessed.

"Not so fun when you’re the ones getting scared huh?!" Sweetie yelled at the children.

"No! You can't do this! Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let you!" Candy screamed.

I beg to differ. Sweetie thought, remembering Madame’s request.

"Miss Pinkie said that this wouldn't happen! This can't be happening!"

"Don't worry!" Sweetie said.

3, 2, 1. Magic Depleted. Capturing ghost. the GCD said.

"You'll be able to tell her all about it now!" Sweetie said. Suddenly, something happened Sweetie didn't quite expect. The GCD let out two bolts of lightning similar to the ones it used to capture the portrait ghosts. The filly thought that this only happened when she was catching the Portraits of Harmony...

The bolt of lightning killed Sweetie's adrenaline high, and converted it into pain. She screamed right along with the children as they were dragged into the GCD. Their tails were ripped right out of the mouths of her friends as they glittered on the floor for a moment before going still again. With one final scream, the children were dragged into the confines of the GCD, and the room was silent again.

Sweetie weakly collapsed to her stomach, panting lightly. As Sweetie started to drift out of conciousness, her eyes went to her friends... she watched as their chests went up and down, showing signs of breathing...
They're alive she thought as she closed her eyes, fainting...

...
...
...
...
...

"Bravo Ms. Belle." Spiffy/Spike said. "Bravo indeed."

Sweetie's head turned sharply toward Spiffy/Spike, as she still held a slim grasp on her consciousness.

"Before I go, might I be so kind to ask you a simple question?" Spiffy/Spike asked. Sweetie could have sworn the dragon took a step back, closer to the edge as he talked.

"W...what?" Sweetie managed to let out.

"Can you... sing?" Spiffy/Spike asked. It was a random question, and one that puzzled Sweetie. Why the hay would he be asking that?

"I... I guess..." Sweetie said weakly, watching as Spiffy/Spike took another step closer to the edge. It was then her brain began processing what he was about to do. "No..." She mumbled.

Spiffy/Spike chucked. "Just a bit of curiosity on my part. Goodbye Ms. Belle." Spiffy said as he launched his ghost out of Spike's body, bringing back the dragon's green eyes. Unlike the two filly's the dragon was quite conscious as he began to fall backwards over the balcony.

"No, no NO!" Sweetie screamed, finding energy she didn't even know she had to get herself up and run over to the dragon.

"Woah! Woah!" Spike yelled as he fell. Still gripping the rope, he fell. As he did, Scootaloo regained some consciousness right in time for her to be yanked up into the air by the noose around her neck. She gagged, grabbing on to her neck in futile attempts to release the rope that was cutting off her air supply.

Sweetie ran over and grabbed the rope, but not in enough time to keep Spike from falling over the ledge. Now, as Spike held on for dear life, the only thing keeping him from falling to his death in the courtyard below, was Scootaloo who hanged in the room choking.

Sweetie did her absolute best to pull Spike up by the rope, but it was no use. She was far too weak to do anything to help the dragon. As the clock ticked further and further down as Scootaloo's eyes went red from lack of oxygen. Sweetie was running out of time... then a thought popped into her head. An evil thought in the voice of the ghost Pinkie Pie...

Cut him loose. the voice said.

If Sweetie cut Spike off of the rope, then Scootaloo would be released... but that would also kill Spike... did she really want to do that? She couldn't pull him up herself, so there was no way Spike was going to live... right? The thought sickened her. Sweetie was running out of options, and she'd have to make a decision fast. Cut Spike and let him loose... or leave him and let them both die...

Shakily, Sweetie abandoned the rope for a moment to fish out Applebloom's knife from her saddlebags. She couldn't believe what she was doing. Though her hooves shook, she felt like a robot as she went to cut the rope and and let it fall along with Spike-

"Sweetie!" Applebloom called running over to her. Sweetie dropped the knife and looked over at her friend. "Wha's happinin'?!" She asked panicked. "Why' is-"

"Spike! Sweetie said. "We need to pull him up now!" Sweetie wouldn't have been able to pull up the dragon by herself, however with the combined strength of Applebloom and herself, they managed. Once Spike was up onto the balcony, Scootaloo dropped back to the ground, gasping for air.

From all of the stress the filly had endured, Sweetie fell down right on the spot, unconscious and unmoving...

Comments

[Cyberfire22]

Exciting chapter once again. However, I did notice some grammatical errors while I was reading. Unfortunately, I forget exactly where all of them are, and I only remember two.

First, I think you meant "Dessert" apple instead of a "desert" apple. Also, for that last scene, I think you meant "exorcise" instead of "exercise" when Spiffy/Spike was explaining the rules of the game.

Other than that, great job so far. I am really enjoying the way you are telling this story. You take the concept of Luigi's Mansion and really make it your own with its own unique storyline. Keep up the good work, I look forward to more. I do feel sorry for Sweetie though and all the stress she is undergoing just to save her family and friends. Nice touch at the end with her having to decide between Spike and Scootaloo, but thankfully not having to.

Edit: I just remembered another mistake you made, you also called Derpy Hooves Ditzy Doo; I don't know if that was intentional or not, but just something to check out. I really hope you don't mind me pointing out these mistakes, it's just that I want this fic to be as good as it can be.

[Sirheavens]

Noooooo, Sweetiebell!

[choosybeggar]

Whoo! More ghost weirdness/scariness! I'm frightened now.

[Moon Shooter]

490298 I like the fannon idea that Derpy/Ditzy is married to Doctor Hooves, therefore her name is infact Ditzy/Derpy Hooves, however I always hated the idea that Derpy was her "cannon" name for good. I always liked to think of Ditzy being her real name, while everypony in Ponyville called her by her "middle name" or nickname "Derpy", as everyone knows, on account of her eyes (Case in point, Rainbow Dash's two clasifications of her). (Don't get me wrong, I like the name Derpy and personally, I think it's a little cute...) To answer your question, yes I did intentionally call her Ditzy Doo (I'd imagine it being her maiden name). The only reason I might change the name is if an actually change it to Derpy is if a cannon Ditzy Doo shows up in the show just to bug me .

Edit: BTW, I don't mind any mistakes you point out. Like you said, the more mistake that are found and fixed, the better the fic 'll be.

[Kody910]

Hot damn, this just gets more and more intense with each coming chapter...
Keep it up!

[Cyberfire22]

490435

Ah, ok then, it just wasn't immediately clear what you meant. Just wanted to make sure :)

[rikke]

This was so awesome chapter.. keep em' coming

[thestripedtotodilepony]

Yes! another accomplishment from you. THIS STORY IS THE BEST FIC NEXT TO MY LITTLE ALICORN. Please give me a hint on the next chapter! If u wont plea fin this as fast as can

[wildberk]

MY GOD THAT WAS LONG! Super excited to see this chapter up. You should be getting your edits sometime by the end of this week.

Edits that I found DURING this story (This was a lazy skim by the way.) Good job Overall.

Even if she does somehow find a path, or her camera, she won't make it in time to have a chance at stopping out plan. Stopping our plan. (6th paragraph)

The glowing red embers were in particular shapes... they were numbers. n(N)umbers one through nine were written in glowing red.

"Pinkie Pie. Even if YOU catch her, she'll still manage to mess with you."

Man that was A GREAT CHAPTER. You had me worried for several minutes when I was reading this!
Huh. Wonder what this is for? Might as well keep it. (Minds well? Never heard that one)

[Isshiki Kotonashi]

Hooray, you updated!

[Moon Shooter]

I again apologize for the lack of updates. Stuff's been happenin' and got in the way. Hopefully nothing else 'll get in the way of me and mah Sweetie!

[Ponyman130]

Wow, just wow. Finally after all of Sweetie's trouble, things are going her way, except for the camera (Gameboy Horror). This is by far the most suspenseful, evil and awesome story I have ever read. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor Sweetie Belle!

REALLY looking forward to the next chapter.

[Wild Wisp]

Bloody Scales, that was AMAZING. I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Levimos]

WHOO that was close but they're safe now this pleases me can't wait for more

[Mazamis]

I hate you for your plot hangers and making this story so good. The thing I hate about good fanfics is the time it takes for the authors to update their stories, even if they are quick and short chapters or long chapters with a long time inbetween.

Well I guess you could say sweete finished the challenge so quickly is...
*puts sunglasses on*
BECAUSE SHE IS A GOOD RACER.
YYYEEEEEAAAHHHHHHH

[ervn92]

awsome chapter i will asked when its the next release but im happy with this(no cliffhanger) keep being awsome¡¡

[Neon Borealis]

Ok, great chapter (I should have been asleep 2 hours ago... oh wel)

Now, time for a checklist
Neutralized threats, saved friends: Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie (I think... hope), Scootaloo(Marbles), Applebloom (Candy), Spike.
Still ongoing or new threats: Spiffy butler, Gilda, Gilda's cronies, Luna, Rarity, possibly Celestia (shudders at the thought), tons of ghosts and Specter Yield himself, eventual plan probably involving a total eclipse in order to give ghosts complete and total power over Equestria.

I'd say this fic still has lots of excitement ahead.

I give it a mustache.

[Commentator]

After reading this just made me feeling killing stuff with blades. Damn

[Moon Shooter]

492011 Oh, you have no idea...

[inactivenow]

This. Was. AMAZING! I'm addicted~

[Little Voice]

Finally! The CMC are back!

[EpslionBear]

I saw one mistake

wantto
should be want to

in the first pinkie message

[BitSmith]

*Drool* Can't get enough of this

[Elzipper7]

I just want you to know how awesome I think this is! As much as I enjoy Luigi's Mansion (which is to say a whole lot), I must say this is a rather extreme rendition of how that game can be interpreted. It's awesome! I don't think many people could do what Sweetie's done here. This is such an enthralling and engaging story and I cannot get enough of it! Still, Sweetie's not having much luck in the way of keeping all of her stuff together. You're not doing her any favours, are you... Regardless of that this is just an insanely good quality piece of work! If only there was more of it, ha ha!

One thing that I did notice in the way of grammatical mistakes was in the candle room (During the fight with the lickers/spitters/skeleton!butler ghosts) "Three one of the green lights on Sweetie's back went red." Maybe one of the three green lights or just one of the green lights, no three.

Also, completely different topic here, I'm trying to imagine how this story could be played as a game. There is no way that I can see this with the same control scheme as the original GC game! What would it be like, I wonder..? Meh, it's unimportant. Keep up the good work!

[Moon Shooter]

494090 I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you here. When I brainstormed control schemes for the game, I see the classic survival horror movement working best (move forward wit up, turn in degrees with left and right), and then maybe switching controls to match a similar set up to the GC controller for special segments... I dunno... waffles.

[Elzipper7]

494124 Hmm... I imagine that'd be good for moving around but I'm thinking more in regards to combating ghosts, for example, dodging, switching functions on the GCD, using items, stuff like that. And what about the platforming (think of the library with ghost!Twilight). Speaking of, how big IS the mansion? I'd like to see that map of the place. Heh, can you imagine if someone really did turn this into a full blown game? Man, that's be one monster of a game. Nightmares for days. Weeks even! scary...

Actually now I'm a little unsure If I want a game of it or not! Hahahahahaha!

[Moon Shooter]

494264 You've got a point. Like I said though, the control scheme is... something to really concider. As for the scare factor... lets just say it'll have a little if it's done like I want

[Digit]

OH MY GOD!
images.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1954-Z04aP.gif
I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SPLENDIDS TO COVER THIS STORY!
YOU SIR, ARE F*CKING AWESOME!

[Red Bomber]

Do you know that your story is keeping me up at night and it's 4:33AM where I'm from. That's how exciting your stories are to me, I simply cannot get enough of it. I am so glad that things turned out so well for Sweetie Belle for this chapter I was really scared for her and worried, but right now I'm so happy that I decided to do the luigi dance after sweetie caught those two ghosts finally. Also Luna's and Gilda's conversation was pretty funny in the end of their scene.

[Toonwriter]

Awesome chapter!!! I'm surprised to see Princess Luna, but I'm glad that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Spike are all back to normal, alive and well! YAY!!!

Oh, Sweetie Belle, for the love of Celestia, please be okay!

[MadamAxem]

I don't see what the big deal is. There's nothing wrong with guys playing with ponies. Sweetie thought.

Oh you troll you.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

"Simple. We keep going of course." Specter said. "She may have caught her, but without her camera, or her map, she's going to have a pretty hard time reaching the safe zone. Especially since most of the paths to the dining hall are blocked. Even if she does somehow find a path, or her camera, she won't make it in time to have a chance at stopping our plan. Besides, she still has my kids, Spiffy and the griffon to worry about."

...Specter, Sweetie Belle has just gained Pinkie's special talent. That means that she has the power to break the fourth wall AND Pinkie Sense. I'd say these abilities will make her a greater threat than you give her credit for.

So now Spike, Applebloom, and Scootaloo are no longer possessed. This means Sweetie will have managed to get four of her friends back after Pinkie has been turned into a painting and then bought back to life.

[Borg]

Sweetie was sure the heart would fix her weakness... but what about broken bones?

You probably want to get the bone straightened out before you eat that candy . . . it's not going to be pleasant, but if the heart mends the bone in its current position, that'll be unpleasant and unhelpful.

So . . . Spiffy was the ghost hunter, then, back in the day? That doesn't bode well for the Mane six getting their cutie marks back, if Spectral presumably never regained his after the first time he died.

. . . thanks to a certain temporary weather pegusis known as Derpy Hooves, . . .
. . . minus the part about Ditzy Doo . . .

Pick a name. Unless you're trying to say her name is Ditzy but she's frequently called Derpy, in which case communicate more clearly that one is a nickname.
Also, *pegasus

Oh, my mistake. Spiffy was never friendly, I guess. He was an evil ghostbuster. Spooky.

That'll buy me some time.

Hey.
Hey Sweetie Belle.
Maybe you should use a bit of that time to check if the book has some hint about how to capture Luna? And see what new feature your GCD has?

Okay, I've got a new order for you: continue to not check the book. You don't care what you got for capturing Pinkie, or the twins, or if the book knows anything about how to capture Luna.
At least this way you'll do what I say.

[Divine Path]

...decided to re-read all the chapters.

You might want to correct the Archaic English.

With how the language goes, Luna should be swapping the halves of "sister of the element"
Something along the lines of "Thou art the sister of the element"
Secondly, when you refer to someone in the end of a sentence, it's thee, not thou.
Art is not used either when referring to oneself.
"I am about to kill thee"
Alternatively, you could warp it to "Thy death at mine hooves is nigh" if you want to make her distinction clear.

Hath is used when referring to oneself. "I hath succeeded at last!"
When used in second person, it's hast. "Hast thou heeded mine words?"
Finally, if you want to stay true to the language, verbs gains an addition- namely eth, st and est
Naturally, eth is used at the end of verb whilst referring to oneself.
"I shalt burneth this house of yours!"
St and est is used for second person/ third person if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, hope I was helpful!

[applebuckingAJ]

1670474

She doesn't have. Her. Cutie. Mark. She. Woke. Up. Without. It

Plus, you probably forgot about that comment now

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

3430677 If you're talking about her flank still being blank, that's because only the special talent that belongs to her will go there.

Let me put it this way. Those cutie marks might not be visible on her body, but I can guarantee they're visible on her soul.

[KiKo4]

*yells thank God*
Only gilda celestia and Luna left(and other ghost..oh yea, spiffy still must be there
/)/) (<<<I like that idea)
(Clicks next chapter)

[Arcanum -Phantasy]

(Pant pant) can this damn thing dile it down a notch?! I think I'm gonna pass out from all these Near-death-experiences! Seriously, just how close is this poor kid gonna get to death in this? It almost looks like Sweetie's gonna get SHIPPED with Death at this point.