//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Ghost Squad // by Sollace //------------------------------// 7:15 AM, Fluttershy’s Cottage, Just outside Ponyville The cottage was silent, almost like something out of a nightmare, or an old movie. It sat cold and lifeless, devoid of any life as it slumped atop its lonely hill. The windows were boarded, and the night around was completely silent, save for the whoop of an owl in the dark, and the soft tinkling of wind chimes. Twilight and Rainbow stood together outside its front gate, the former regarding the scene with a frown, whilst the latter trailed close behind, glancing around nervously, and trying to hide her shivers. “I—” Rainbow gulped, and smack her lips. She was looking all around her, her eyes darting from side to side whilst she kept her pack at the ready to blast and ghost that even dared to jump out at the great Rainbow Dash. “I-I don’t know about this, Twi. Maybe we sh--” Rainbow froze, her mane bristling as the sound of a twig snapping reached her ears, followed by the howl of a timberwolf drifting over from the Everfree. She immediately spun around, bringing up her packs nozzle to aim at the source, and squinted into the dark as she spied a lone bush in the woods. It shook slightly, making a faint rustling in the dark, and Rainbow Dash carefully skulked close to it. With every step, the bush shook, and Rainbow’s ears drooped. She paused, and glanced over her shoulder to Twilight. The mare watched from a distance, her own— albeit broken— Harmony Pack at the ready. “What is it?” she silently mouthed. Rainbow held a hoof up to her mouth, and gestured to her pack, and then to the bush. Twilight frowned, titling her head, and shrugged. “What?” “Ugh...” Rainbow groaned, and facehoofed. “I’m going to—“ Suddenly, the bushes parted, and something small and white dashed out heading straight for her. Aaahh!” Rainbow was caught off guard, she yelped, dropping her arms and covering her face with her hooves. “Don’t hurt me!” she yelped, letting out a high-pitched, Fluttershy-like squeal, as she backpedalled out of the woods, and all the way back to the cottage gate to cower behind Twilight’s flanks. A faint thumping sounded from behind, and out of the dark hopped Angel Bunny. He huffed, crossing his arms, and turned up his nose, then started off bounding off down the road. Both their eyes followed the bunny as he bounced away, turned a corner, and ducked back out of sight. They both shared a glance, and Twilight cracked smirk. “Pfft—” She pressed her hoof to her mouth, the muffled the snickers whilst Rainbow Dash blushed a bright red. “I—” Mortified; she averted her eyes, and stuttered, “M-Maybe we sh-should’ve gone with Pinkie Pie?” she asked, hopeful, and stepped out from behind Twilight to regain her dignity. Her wings spread, and she made a show of how un-terrified she was, despite the trembling running throughout her entire bot. “N-not like I’m scared, or anything, but- You know?” She turned, and started trotting back up the path towards Ponyville. “Just to m-make sure s-she doesn’t—” Rainbow was stopped in her tracks as something solid pulled on her tail, sending a jolt up her spin, and she glanced back to find Twilight there, holding her tail with her magic and glaring at her. “H-hey!” she shouted, and tried trotting away again, pulling against the magic. “Let go!” Instead, all it did was further annoy Twilight as she deadpanned, rolling her eyes, and started pulling Rainbow with her through the gate. “Come on, Rainbow, don’t be a scaredy filly. “No please, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash cried, tearing up as she grabbed at the ground. “Let me go, I don’t wanna!” As she passed the gate, she latched onto the stone wall, wrapping her hooves around the base as she pleaded. “Please!” “It’s just”—Twilight grit her teeth, bracing herself, and in one switch motion, she pulled Rainbow free. –“Fluttershy.” There was a crack, and a yelp, “Nooo...” and Rainbow Dash flew free from the gate, carrying a large chunk of the wall with her between her hooves, and then kept going as Twilight dragged her down the driveway towards Fluttershy’s cottage. ~ ~ ~ Pinkie Pie trotted down the path, hopping, skipping, and jumping as she hummed to herself. “Hmm-hmm-hm—” She crossed the bridge into Ponyville proper, and was overtaken by the familiar feeling of a heat song, bubbling up form deep inside, beating against her chest begging to be let out. “Ooooh...! When I’m Pinkie P— Oh!” Pinkie suddenly cut herself off, gasping as she spied a familiar face. “Hi Carrot Top!” She waved a hoof as she passed, smiling to a greyed out mare standing beside the road. Carrot Top simply stood there, swaying slightly on her hooves. She didn’t make any move to respond, and simply stood there, staring off into the distance, and facing away from the road. “Okay, bye, then~” Pinkie giggled, waving once more, and continued on her way again. ~ ~ ~ “Noo-ho-hooo!!” Rainbow Dash cried, kicking and screaming, tears dribbling down her face and bawling like a spoiled filly as she was dragged behind Twilight towards the cottage. “I don’t wanna!” She lay sprawled out on her stomach, sucking a hoof in her mouth whilst she clung for dear life to her makeshift teddy bear—an industrial-sized bag of birdseed she’d picked up on their way across the bridge. Several twigs and dust clung to her coat and main, adding a dusted brown to the stark pink splotching her fur. “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight grunted. She heaved and pulled, putting all her strength into dragging the mare up the last steps onto the porch. “This is getting—” she huffed “—ridiculous.” With a sigh, and a groan, Twilight gathered her strength for one mighty heave, and lifted Rainbow by her back legs, clear of the last step, and almost over her head before she collapsed. CRACK “Gah!” Something clicked in her back and Twilight faltered. She wobbled, and let Rainbow fall, slumping to her haunches, gasping for breath and rubbing her temples as she seethed. “We have to—” she took a deep breath gasped, steadying herself, “We have to do this, Rainbow, it’s imperative that we...” Her breath running short, Twilight trailed off and lapsed into silence, panting, and waiting as her heart raced to catch up. “...we...” “‘That we’ what?” Rainbow Dash jumped at the chance. She hopped to her hooves; the feed bag still squeezed tight between her forelegs, and loomed over Twilight with a wild look in her eye. “Are you serious!?” she screamed. Her wings popped out on instinct and, dropping the bag, she waved a hoof over her back to gesture at the pile of planks in the yard. “Have you seen what she did to that chicken coop!? What do you think she’s got in there, chickens!?” She huffed, crossing her hooves, “If that’s what she had to do for the chickens, I’m not sticking around to find out what happened for the hoofing bear! Harmony Packs or no, that thing will rip me to apart!” Twilight sighed and shook her head. She waved a hoof, taking a moment to swallow and clear her throat. “I-” she coughed, and tried again. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” She punctuated her words with a roll of her eyes. “It was just Fluttershy overreacting, again. We got here just fine, and besides, we still need to get our packs fixed before we can do anything.” “Can’t we just go back to your castle and fix them there?” “Sure,” Twilight replied. The sarcasm was palpable. “If you don’t mind fighting through an endless army of the undead, led by a resurrected devil king of all things evil wielding who knows what kind of power, all with nothing but the tails on our flanks and the power of friendship, then go ahead.” “Aw...” Rainbow’s eyes lit up, her fear momentarily forgotten as she shot up in the air screaming, “... hell yeah!” She did a back flip, landing in front of Twilight, and grabbed her hoof intent on trotting back to Ponyville. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Now let’s go get Pinkie P—” She started to walk away, but was halted when Twilight refused to move. “Um, Twi,” she started, and glanced back with a raised eyebrow, “Aren’t we—” and went silent as she saw Twilight’s glare. “No.” “Bu—” “No.” She repeated, more forcefully this time, much to Rainbow’s disappointment, The pegasus seemed to deflate, her head lowering and her ears drooping as Twilight turned away from her to regard the door. She continued, “Forget about it. We’re not going on a suicide mission.” “Aw...” Rainbow sighed from behind her and, rolling her eyes, Twilight turned her attention to front door. For all her trouble, Twilight had to admit, Rainbow did have some kind of point—not about the mission, but about Fluttershy. They didn’t really know what was in there, whether some ghost come to claim the cottage for its own, Harry guarding the door for his master, or Fluttershy scared out of her wits. Even then, if it were Fluttershy, they couldn’t be sure that was really Fluttershy. A flash of a pink filly, green eyes and cackling maniacally, flashed through Twilight’s mind, giving her pause. In all the confusion, they’d forgotten Derpy, and neither of them had found signs of either her or her daughter in the Necroverse, meaning wherever they were, Sombra probably had them now. Twilight was overtaken by a sick feeling. She flushed and wavered for a moment, but then, steeling her resolve; she gulped and reached her hoof forwards. No point in waiting to find out, she argued. It was either now or never. As her hoof drew closer, the minutes stretched into hours, and Twilight’s eyes instinctively glanced to the side, scoping out the surroundings for an escape route. She felt a droplet of sweat dribbling down her forehead. Okay, Twilight, you can do this. She gulped, again, and licked her lips. Only a few more inches, and— CHA-T-CHA-T-CHATTA-CH “Ya—” Twilight yelped, and almost jumped out of her skin. She bit down on her lip, silencing her scream, and spun around to shoot a glare at the pony leaning over her back. “Rainbow Dash!” “Wh-what?” Rainbow asked, dumbfounded. She hovered slightly behind Twilight, leaning over her shoulder, practically on top of her as she stared down at what she was doing. He hoof was pressed against her mouth, shivering, and her teeth chattering loudly as she watched. Twilight facehoofed, and pushed Rainbow away from her, whispering, “Stay back.” She took a deep breath, letting her mind clear, and went through the exercises Cadance had taught her. Finally, when she thought herself ready, Twilight turned her attention back to the door, this time looking at it more carefully. Immediately she could notice a few key differences. One was that the welcome mat was gone, and two, there was a rope tied around the door handle which—as she followed it, lead to a rather large, wooden sign, dangling at knee height in front of the door. She levitated the sign up, reading it aloud as she held it up in front of her. “Go Away.” it said, in big dribbling red paint, and then, directly below that and trailing off into increasingly smaller font: “There is definitely no yellow pegasus in side that any creepy creeper ghost might want to eat, so please go away, that is, if you don’t mind, could you please...” “...Fluttershy, really..” Rolling her eyes, Twilight discarded the sign and leaned against the door. She braced herself with a hoof, and laid her ear flat against the wood to listen for any sound inside. There was breathing, faint and broken by the wood, but it was still breathing. Oh, good, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, At least she’s still alive. She gently tapped the door with her hoof. “Fluttershy?” she called, careful not to sound too forceful. “Are you in there?” The response was immediate. A gasp, barely a squeak from the other side, followed by a loud clatter and a thud as something large, heavy, and pudgy dropped to the floor in fright. Twilight frowned. She brought both hooves up to the door, pressing her head against the surface, struggling to hear what was going on. “Are you okay in there?” No response. Twilight’s frown deepened. She was about to repeat herself when a rumble and the squeak of furniture shifting broke the silence. A dainty clomping of hooves drew near behind the door, and the wood shivered. It jolted inwards as the door cracked ajar causing Twilight to flinch. She blanched as she slid sideways, and almost tumbled to the ground before she could catch herself on her back hoof. She glanced back up to find a single eye staring at her from the darkness inside. “Y-y-your n-not more creepy ghosties come t—” The tiny whisper of a voice stuttered, pausing as she glanced around. She gulped. “T-to, eat my soul, are you?” “Fluttershy, it’s just us,” Twilight whispered, and leaned down, poking her head in front of the gap so Fluttershy could see her more clearly. She put on her sincerest of smiles, and pressed a hoof to her chest—“Twilight, remember?” And she motioned to the mare directly behind her, currently looking on with her hooves crossed around a large bad of seeds—“And this is R—” “Come on, already!!” Rainbow Dash butted in, shoving Twilight out of the way as she moved in to glare down the gap. “Fluttershy, just let us in,” she croaked, glaring down at the eye. “Eep—”Fluttershy squeaked, her eyes widening, and let out a high-pitched squeal as she slammed the door shut. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded and rounded on the mare. She grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her up in front of her as she glared down at her, shaking her violently as she screamed, “Why did you just do—” Twilight’s tirade was cut short as the door rattled between them. They paused, both eyes turning down to the door, Twilight’s mouth dropping open whilst Rainbow’s turned up into a smug grin. The door handle rattled, and clicked with the slamming of tumblers and multiple locks falling out of place. The door creaked, and cracked ajar once again, jolting in place as it knocked against something solid. “Oh, ponyf—” They barely caught Fluttershy’s swear, and then the rattle of a chain being undone, and the slide of something heavy being moved out of the way. Finally, the door swung open, and Fluttershy’s head poked out from behind it. “Quick,” she whispered, waving Twilight and Rainbow over with a hoof, “Get inside before the g-gh- creeps get you!” ~ ~ ~ 7:15 AM, Rarity’s Boutique, Ponyville “Rarity!” Pinkie Pie screamed into the night. She stood outside the boutique, at the main entrance and staring up to the second floor window with a wide grin. She leapt in place, waving her hooves as she just barely reached the second floor, hopeful that somepony would see her. “Yoo-hoo~” No response. It was like the entire building had been abandoned. Either that or Rarity was a really heavy sleeper. She hoped the latter. With all options exhausted—she was pretty sure Rarity didn’t have a chimney, at least not any more—Pinkie returned to shouting and banging on the front door. “Rarity, Rars, Marshmallow Pudgy Muffin, I’m here to get you to help save Equestria! Hello!?” She paused again, glancing up to the window and straining her eyes and ears for any signs of life—and still no answer. “Hm... Weird.” Pet names always worked to get Rarity outside, one way or another—usually the other—which means there must be something wrong. Either that or she’s a really heavy sleeper. She raised several more hooves to knock again, banging against the wood with all her might and rattling the door on its hinges. “Rarit—” CRACK There was a loud crunch, like wood splitting, the trickle of rubble breaking loose from the boutique’s facade and the door suddenly cracked ajar. It creaked long and low, a sad groan of mourning for its beloved frame, as it swung inwards, there was the faint clunk of something moving in the back of the studio, followed by more silence. “Uh...” Pinkie pie peeked inside, her smile gone as she gazed into the darkened interior. She pushed forwards, grunting as she forced the open the rest of the way, and trotted into the building proper. “Rarity?” Her voice echoed, reverberating through the empty studio. “Are you in here?” No answer. Pinkie blinked and squinted into the darkness. Shadows fell all around, contorting into strange beings with grinning, watching intently as Pinkie slinked further into the building. A cool breeze blew, sending a chill up Pinkie’s spine, and she felt the urge to fill the silence. “Um,” she smacked her lips, regretting having eaten her ghost detector, and began singing the lyrics of her favourite song as she trotted. “I just want to...” She gulped, her eyes dancing across the darkness, “Smile; Smile...” The marennequins seemed to be watching her too, their faceless eye drilling into her soul as she was instinctively drawn to the only light source around. Near the back, trailing off to the left, there was a pale yellow light that flickered in and out through an open door to the kitchen. Pinkie stopped in the entranceway, frowning as she looked around wearily. The place was a sticky mess. The traces of breakfast still lay out, a bowl of cereal half eaten on the table-top, and a burned orange juice and waffles sitting out on the counter. The overhead light hung loosely, its cone of light pitching and swaying as it swung from its hinges. There was a faint buzz, and a zap, as the light flickered and dimmed. As the light moved, the shadows went with it, migrating across the room in a surrealist fashion. Different parts of the kitchen came and went from view. Dirty dishes piled in the sink, a dripping faucet, a pot spilled on the white tiles, and a bowl of fruit teetering on the edge of the counter. “Ooh!” Pinkie Pie jolted forward with a hop and a skip, and arrived in front of the bowl. She grabbed the bowl in her hooves and smashed her face down on the contents, mixing them thoroughly into her mane. When she brought her face up, she took all the fruit with her mane and she did a quick tally. “Apple, apple, banana, grapefruit— ew!” She discarded the pear, making a face. “I can totally use these!” Dropping the bowl, she jumped over to the fridge and pulled it open. There was burst of light, a sickly green glow that bathed over the front of Pinkie, and a gale-force wind whipped past her mane making her eyes water. Pinkie Pie tapped a hoof to her chin, running her eyes over the items in the fridge door. “Let’s see here...” There was an echoing groan, and a long, scrawny hand reached out from the fridge. Its fingers extended towards Pinkie Pie, with a garbled voice that whispered from the depths. Pony—must join u—” “Aha!” Pinkie shot a hoof forwards, grabbing a carton of juice form the door, and slammed the fridge shut. “Yaahh~” The voice cut itself off, replaced by the pained whimpering of a hurt puppy as it tried to pull its hand back. Pinkie Pie turned away, holding her prize up between her hooves, too interested in fiddling with her juice box to pay the ghost any mind. She held it in front of her, struggling to get the straw loose with her hooves, as she brought it with her back to the exit. “Come on...” she grumbled to herself. She trotted forwards, and immediately collided with something soft and springy in the middle of the door way. An orange and an apple shook loose from her mane, bouncing to the floor as Pinkie took a step back in surprise. “Oh, sorry there I—” She stopped, her voice catching in her throat. There was a shadowy mare standing in the doorway, slumped against the frame, and blocking Pinkie’s path. The light swung around, casting a light across the mare’s face. A tangled, messy mane, tired, glazed over eyes devoid of any life, and a mouth hanging open with dribble trailing all the way to the ground. “Uuugh...” is groaned, and a wave of nauseating stench wafted over Pinkie. “Rarity!” Pinkie Pie was taken aback. Her muzzle scrunched, and she looked the mare up and down, inspecting her with a critical eye. “... Wow. You weren’t kidding about the beauty sleep, huh?” “Uuuuuuugh...” Pinkie blushed. “Oh, well.” She averted her eyes, running a hoof through her mane. An apple dropped out, bounced once, and rolled to a halt beneath the table. “I mean, if anypony’s going to pull of that look, it’s going to be you.” “Uuuuuugh,” Rarity groaned again. Raising one hoof, she took a step, and lumbered forwards. “The—” she gulped, stuttering slightly, and took a step back. “This isn’t about the fruit, is it? I was going to pay you back.” She quickly did the magic motions, “Pinkie Promise.” “Uuuuuuuuugh!” Rarity groaned, longer this time, and stepped forwards again. She leaned out, grabbing for Pinkie with her hooves. Backing up slightly more, Pinkie could already feel herself beginning to sweat. Rarity was getting a little too friendly, even for her. She looked one way, then the other, and decided it best she start running. “Oookay”— she lifted a hoof to begin trotting backwards—“I can see you’re busy, so I’ll—” There was a flash of movement, something out of the corner of her eye, and Pinkie felt something brush past beneath her tail. A tiny form squeezed around her hind-left leg, making Pinkie shiver. There was another, much smaller groan, and Pinkie Pie froze. She turned her head slowly, looking downwards, and locked eyes with a tiny little form huddle behind her. A grey little filly, Sweetie Belle, was hanging on her leg and staring back with a set of wide, brightly-lit, green eyes. A string of drool hung from her open mouth as she tilted her head. “Ueeeegh...”