//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Ghost Squad // by Sollace //------------------------------// “Don’t let her get away!” Twilight practically screamed. She pushed Ditzy out of her way, trying to ignore the stinging scrape marks up her face, or the torn out clumps of fur, and dashed for the door. She leapt over the collapsed door and out into the corridor, and stopped to check where the filly might have gone. The high-pitched cackling and tiny snarls of the filly sounded from her left, back towards the living room. With a flash of her horn, she took the quick route and teleported to the end of the corridor, and took up position in the middle of the entranceway. There was no way she was going to let the filly escape this time. She stood guard in the doorway, nozzle ready, and scanned the room for the tiny menace. A loud hiss caught twilight’s attention. She turned her gaze upwards. In any other situation Twilight would have considered her absolutely adorable. Even now, despite the logical side of her brain beating her over the head with reality; she couldn’t help but choke back a d’aww at the purple filly hanging from the ceiling in front of her. She was baring her teeth in a vain attempt to look scary whilst she swiped a hoof at Twilight, using the other to hold herself aloft as she swung from the edge of an old grandfather clock like. But looking beyond that, Twilight could also tell there was something clearly wrong. Dinky’s were glaring daggers at her, and jumped back and forth madly around the room. She could also make out a faint glow hanging around Dinky’s horn and eyes. She was clearly possessed. DING A bell chimed on the back of her pack, and a renewed rumbling reminded Twilight what she was here to, “Okay, Dinky.” Twilight began in a calming voice, speaking slowly as she stepped further into the room, “Now I’m not going to hurt you,” the pack’s nozzle and hose levitated out to Twilight’s side, and slowly turned up to point close to Dinky. “Now, please, come down to Auntie Twilight,” She was now almost to the grandfather clock and had a hoof held out, reaching the crazed filly. Dinky only seemed to cower away from her, shuffling back further along the top of the grandfather clock, and then scrambling onto the top where she remained huddled like a cat. Twilight took another step forward, and was spreading her wings to fly closer, when suddenly a familiar voice sounded from behind her, “Twilight, wait!” and somepony tackled her to the ground. She was thrown sideways against the coffee table, and before she knew it there was a pony sitting on her chest trying to wrench the nozzle out of her magical grasp, “Ditzy, what are you doing!?” On instinct Twilight pulled the nozzle closer, wrapped her hooves around it, not wanting to give it up. There was more struggling, more grunting, and suddenly a click sounded between them. The pack suddenly sprang to life, shocking both mares, and almost singing Ditzy’s mane as it spewed a beam of magic across the room. It wavered as the two struggled and blazed a dark scorch mark across the ceiling, all the while Dinky watched in stunned awe at the scene from her front row seat atop the grandfather clock. The two rolled over off the table, and continued struggling on the floor. The beam from the pack swerved and shot across the face of the grandfather clock, destroying it instantly and kicking up a cloud of sawdust and shattered clockwork. Twilight was finally able to kick Ditzy off and clambered back to her hooves. She fumbled with the nozzle and turned back to the corner where Dinky had been moments before, only to find the smouldering remains of the clock, and no filly in sight. Twilight’s eye twitched and she caught a flash or motion out of the corner of her eye. She spun around, aiming the pack forward, only to find herself staring at an open window, with the curtains fluttering. Twilight fumed, “Derpy, what the hay!?” and rounded on Ditzy, “Why did you do that? I almost had her!” Ditzy, still sitting next to the coffee table, shook her head and slowly got to her hooves, “I’m sorry, Twilight,” She stepped around the coffee table and grabbed Twilight’s hoof, “I don’t know what got into me, but please don’t hurt Dinky.” Her ears were dropped and she was staring to Twilight with that usual wonky gaze. As she watched, she could see as Ditzy’s eyes misted and one of them bobbed up, pulling itself away from the vase in the corner to join its friend in looking into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight faltered, “Um,” and pulled back her hoof. She quickly recovered and put the same hoof around Ditzy’s shoulders, “It’s okay, okay? I’m not going to hurt her, the pack would just... Fix her.” “Are you sure?” “Well...” Twilight pulled her hoof back to rub her chin, “Technically it hasn’t been tested on a live pony be,” Ditzy’s eyes were beginning to water and Twilight quickly backpedalled her scholarly rant, “Oh, um” She stammered and clicked her hoof for the right words, “I mean yeah, it’s perfectly safe.” “...Okay.” “...But,” Twilight dragged on the word, glancing around the room to keep from making eye contact with the Pegasus, “If it makes you feel any better I won’t use the pack on her.” Her horn lit for a second and a switch on the pack changed positions. It’s humming slowly died and the nozzle was returned to its holster, “We’ll just have catch her the old fashioned way, safely, and figure out something to do then.” “Okay, I’d like that.” “Great,” She gestured over her shoulder, “Now let’s go find Dinky before she starts causing trouble.” ~ ~ ~ 2:15 AM, Spitting Pony Plaza, Ponyville Rainbow Dash was sitting on the edge of the fountain, fidgeting and looking around nerviously. She had her Harmony Pack set down beside her, and leaning against the fountain as it slowly recharged. Rainbow fidgeted again, and called out behind her, “Pinkie Pie, what’s taking you so long?” “Phew,” Pinkie Pie trotted out of a nearby building, wiping the sweat from her brow. She stood in the doorway and blew out the line of smoke streaming from her pack’s nozzle then, with a twirl and a flurry of her hoof, she holstered it and bounded out into the plaza. “That one was a doozy,” Pinkie Pie spoke as she rounded the fountain. “I’ll say,” Rainbow Dash shouted back, and began getting ready to go as soon as she heard Pinkie approaching from behind. She stood up and stretched her out wings, then grabbed her Harmony Pack to heave it onto her back. Rainbow Dash looked up from fiddling with the straps, noticing Pinkie stopping in front her. She raised an eyebrow, “Um, Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie Pie blinked, “What?” and tilted her head. A pair of bat wings sticking out of the top of her mane twitched and wobbled s she turned her head to look behind her, “What?” She turned back and looked down her snout, and attempted to feel inside her mouth with a hoof, “Is there something in my teeth?” “No, it’s—” Rainbow made a move to point at the wings sticking out of Pinkie’s mane but before she could do so they gave a slight twitch and, as Pinkie’s mane wobbled around, began to sink deeper into the pink mass. Rainbow watched in silent awe as the pair of wings were slowly consumed by the mass of hair, eventually vanishing entirely with an audible pop. With the foreign object ‘consume’, Rainbow presumed, the mane bounced back to it’s normal shape. She let her hoof drop and closed her mouth, “... Never mind,” and chocked it up as yet another Pinkie thing, “Hey, can I see that list again?” “Sure, just give me a second,” Pinkie reached into her mane and began digging around. Her eyes crossed and she stuck out her tongue as she dug deeper into her mane, until eventually she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the torn-off piece of scroll from earlier, and passed it to Rainbow Dash. “Thanks.” Taking it in her hooves, she let it unroll in her hooves, picked up the pen packaged inside, and began going over the list to check items off, “Berry Punch?” “Eeyup, we did that one first,” Pinkie nodded. “Okay,” she made a mark next to the name, “Have we done Colgate?” She looked up from the list for a moment, “Or was it Minuette? I can never tell those two apart.” “Giant floating toothbrush?” “Yeah.” “That was Colgate.” “Okay.” Rainbow Dash made another mark on the list, commenting as she wrote, “I’m never going to trust a dentist’s office again.” “I never have.” This elicited a snort from Rainbow. She finished writing her note and continued down the list, “Okay, Carrot Top,” She read the name aloud and glanced to the house in front of them. It had no garden in front, but there were plenty of window pots to make up for the lack of greenery. Unfortunately most of them where damaged when the ‘ghost’—she was still a little foggy on what Twilight wanted them to call these things—broke through the windows to try and escape. The roof had shingles— or rather it did when they got here. Most of them now lay in smashed up heaps around the house. As they watched, another couple shingles slid off the roof and came crashing down next to the street. Hopefully Carrot Top wouldn’t notice. She turned her back to the scene, ticking off Carrot’s name, and unrolled the bottom of the page to read the last items, “That leaves only two more places: Applejack’s Barn, or... Sugar Cube Corner.” Pinkie gasped, “Wait what!?” and grabbed the list to check for herself. She frantically eyed the page as she asked, “My place?” ~ ~ ~ 2:30 AM, Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were gathered outside the front entrance preparing for battle. Rainbow had her Harmony Pack at the ready, and stood with her back to the wall on the left side of the entranceway whilst Pinkie stood on the right. She tapped her hoof expectantly against the wall whilst Pinkie fiddled with her night-vision goggles, “Come one, Pinkie let’s go.” Pinkie finished adjusting her goggles, finally getting them to sit straight on her forehead. She let them go and held her position for a moment, holding her hooves up and watching for any sighs of movement. When it was looking like they would finally stay in place, the front curl of her mane sprung back up. It knocked the goggles clear off her face and sent them flying to who knows where. Pinkie sighed, giving up, and picked up her pack’s nozzle, “Okay, let’s go.” Rainbow Dash nodded and stepped round to face the door. She quickly unlocked it and pushed it inwards, allowing it to swing the rest of the way. The door swung open and a wave of stench hit Rainbow like a brick wall, making her recoil in disgust. She felt nausea bubbling in her gut and had to back away from the door way. She grabbed Pinkie Pie put her between herself and the horrid smell, pressing a hoof to her mouth after feeling like she was going to vomit. “Ugh, what is that—” Her stomach did another summersault, “I think I’m going to—” a faint belch escaped her lips and Rainbow turned a sickly green. Pinkie Pie leaned out and sniffed the cloud of stench creeping out from the open door; “Mm” She licked her lips, “Gorgonzola truffle cheese cake delight, my favourite!” “Really, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and looked to Pinkie. Choosing to ignore it, she covered her nose with her wing, pushed forward and entered the building. The inside of Sugar Cube Corner was completely quiet. In the middle of the room was a large round table, adorned by a pink table cloth, settings for at least twelve ponies, and a large three tier, cream coloured cake, adorned by blue and brown splotches and the figure of a green filly at its top. The stench was clearly coming from the cake, and by the looks of how the chairs all lay haphazardly, scattered around the room, whoever was here must of left in quite a hurry. One half of the room, towards the back and behind the cake, was bathed in a faint green light. As Rainbow and Pinkie rounded the large table, the light grew brighter and its source slowly came into view: a swirling vortex hanging above the cash register. Shadows rippled across the shop as the portal’s surface shimmered. Hey could hear distant howls coming from it as they approached, “Woah, cool,” Pinkie said silently and trotted up to the portal to get a closer look. “Careful, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash warned. “Don’t worry, Dashie,” Pinkie waved her off nonchalantly and leaned against the portal with a hoof, “It’s not like we don’t deal with this stuff almost every week,” Her hoof started to sink into the portal, coating her foreleg in a thick gooey substance before she pulled it back and stepped away, “Give or take hiatuses,” She concluded with a wide grin as she whipped off the goo. Rainbow stared at the pony for a moment, with an expression that clearly reads: What are you talking about. At length, she shook it off, “... still, who knows what could be on the other side. We’d better keep an eye out for anything” — A low, deep growl started from behind and both ponies froze in their tracks, — “Suspicious” They stared ahead in silence with wide eyes, “Uh...” Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie, “... was that you?” “Nuh huh” Pinkie shook her head, “I thought it was yours.” “Why would I be—” Another growl, this time lower. They both turned around and looked over their shoulders at the table behind them. The cake sitting in the middle shuddered, shaking the entire table and knocking another chair over, then a faint green glow overcame it, “Oh no,” Pinkie gasped, “Not the cake—” she began to shout but found herself silenced by another hoof in her mouth. Rainbow Dash glared at her. “Don’t make any - sudden - movements,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off the cake, “If we’re lucky it hasn’t noticed us yet.” There was another growl, the cake shook one last time and a glowing green eye poked out from the frosting in the middle of the top tier. Two more joined it, and all three turned down to glare at the two ponies standing frozen before it. The three eyes blinked, and the bottom of the cake split wide open into a gaping mouth. It bore its teeth and let loose an earth shattering roar that threatened to level the entire building. Rainbow Dash took a step back, wiping the flecks of cake off of her face, and turned to Pinkie Pie, “Okay, new plan.” She pumped the trigger on her Harmony Pack. It fired to life, and Rainbow took aim, “Blast it!” “Blasting!” Pinkie shouted, and did the same. Both nozzles shot off in unison and the room exploded with light as two beams of condensed magical energy flew across the room and connected with their target. GRAAAAH! Unfortunately this only made it angry. The cake roared ferociously. It shook the table lifted itself up onto four stubby, cakey legs, seemingly growing larger as it did so. The table creaked loudly under the weight and collapsed to the ground with a crash. The cake gave another growl and catapulted itself towards Rainbow and Pinkie. They only had a split second to leap out of the way before the cake monster came crashing down destroying the cash register, “No, not the cash register! The Cakes will kill me!” Pinkie Pie screamed. “We’ve got more important things than that to worry about,” Rainbow Dash shouted over from the other side of the room where she’d landed in the buffet table. She was already getting back up to her hooves and reloading her Harmony Pack. She quickly located the regulator setting Twilight had shown her and flipped it to level two, whilst Pinkie rounded the table to back her up whilst the cake monster was till dazed. The cake shook off itself off and turned around with a massive snarl, now sprinkled with pieces of splintered wood and the occasional bit wedged in its icing. Rainbow Dash widened her stance, held up the nozzle of her pack and pulled the trigger. There was a loud whirring sound, and the nozzle gave off a pathetic spark. “Oh no... Not now!” Rainbow Dash scolded the pack, and shook the nozzle. She peered down the end of it to make sure it wasn’t blocked; meanwhile the cake inching closer. She tried again, and to no avail, “Pinkie a little help.” Pinkie Pie was cowering behind her, her eyes squeezed shut, and with the nozzle to her own pack held close. She opened her eyes and blinked, then looked at the nozzle, then it click, “... oh yeah.” She pulled Rainbow Dash behind her, puffing out her chest with confidence, “Don’t worry, Rainbow! I’ve got this!” and turned on her pack. The cake was almost upon them, and she chose the perfect moment to fire her pack at near blank shot distance. The cake was blinded by the blast and went into a wide rampage. Rainbow and Pinkie jumped out of the way once more as the cake ploughed past them and disintegrated the buffet. It then rounded back and thundered across the room, missing them by mere inches and ploughing straight through the storefront leaving a gaping hole in its wake. “Dashie, what’s going on?” “I don’t know” Rainbow Dash shook and slapped her nozzle, “Something’s wrong with my pack.” Another roar sounded from outside, and they could hear the stomps as the cake made its way back towards the building, “Let me look at that,” Pinkie grabbed the nozzle out of Rainbow’s hooves. The line pulled taught making Rainbow stumble, “Careful, Pinkie!” She protested. “Shh...” Pinkie shushed the Pegasus as she investigated the pack, “I remember Twi said it’d take longer to recharge, maybe that’s it?” She grabbed Rainbow by the flanks and spun her around to get a better view of the pack. Meanwhile the stomping outside was only getting closer. The lights on the pack were all dim, and the level on the side was reading a whopping zero percent, “Hm...” Pinkie frowned and toggled one of the switches. It didn’t seem to do anything, so she switched to the tried and true tactic. Pinkie Pie took a step away and drop kicked the pack. A loud clang sounded and her hoof bounced off the top of the pack, leaving a large indentation, and the Pack spluttered to life. With a disgruntled rumble, the pack’s lights flickered and the power gauge jumped to full. Rainbow Dash wasted no time; she spun about aiming the nozzle in the air and pulled the trigger. The end of it almost exploded in her hooves and a torrent of magical energy shot forth. It connected with the cake monster mid air half way across the room, punching a hole directly through it and out the other side. With one final roar, the cake came crashing down on top of Rainbow Dash burying her in a literal mountain of cake. Rainbow’s head breached through the top, coated in cake and frosting, with the occasional chunk of blue cheese hanging from her mane. “Eugh,” she grimaced and spat out a large glob of the stuff. Somehow it tasted even worse than it smelled. “Woah, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie’s head poked out from behind one of the counters, still completely clean despite the amount of frosting that had splattered across the floor and the ceiling. She jumped out from her hiding spot and bounced over to where Rainbow Dash was busy extricating herself from the cake. Rainbow was holding her nose with a hoof, and focusing on shaking icing out of her primaries when Pinkie came up to her and pulled her into a massive hug, “You did it!” She squealed, and sniffed Rainbow’s mane, “And you smell delicious! I wish I was covered in cake like that.” “Belieb me, you dob’t,” Rainbow Dash replied in a nasally voice and pushed Pinkie away. She took a moment to look around the room. Most of the furniture had been destroyed, and most of everything else was splattered with dessert. The portal was still floating above where the cash register used to be, still glowing and swirling peacefully. There was a faint howl from behind the portal, and Rainbow thought she heard voices. A chill ran up her spine. Suddenly she didn’t want to be around that thing anymore, “Okay, I’m done.” Rainbow Dash huffed and trotted for the exit. Pinkie Pie gave the portal a glance then, pointing back to it, “Wait,” she called after Rainbow Dash, “What about the—” “I’m done!” Rainbow Dash’s voice shouted back from outside.