The next day comes and it was a weekend, Runner and Sprinter were coaching again, so Walker travels on his own again, he was heading to the Everfree Forest and Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle follow him. Walker looks back while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle hide out of his sight and watch him, he closes his eyes tightly and then reopens them, he turns around and keeps walking, the three follow him, they see Walker go to the entrance of the Everfree Forest while the three hide behind a tree and watch him, he looks back again and turns around again, but he did not walk,
"Why are you three following me?" Walker asked, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle become startled and look,
"How did he notice us?" Sweetie Belle whispered,
"I don't know, we were never in his line of sight." Scootaloo whispered,
"It doesn't matter if you're hiding from me and behind me right now, I can still see you." Walker said, the three fillies become speechless at what he just said,
"He must've heard us followin' him." Apple Bloom whispered,
"What do you three want?" Walker asked, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle walk to him while he turns around,
"I'll get to the point, Walker, you and your guardians are very suspicious." Sweetie Belle said,
"How so?" Walker asked,
"You weren't in the bathroom, you didn't hear us at your door the other day, and yesterday, we learned from Princess Luna that your dream is not in the dream realm." Sweetie Belle replied,
"So?" Walker asked,
"Are you even a pony?" Scootaloo asked,
"Yes." Walker replied,
"Then why are you disappearin' at times and not in the dream realm?" Apple Bloom asked,
"You three wouldn't understand, even if I did explain." Walker replied,
"Try us." Sweetie Belle said,
"What do you three know about spirits?" Walker asked,
"Oh, that's easy, that's how determined you are and what drives you to do things." Scootaloo replied,
"Not that kind of spirit." Walker said,
"You're referring to a spirit as in...?" Scootaloo asked,
"The souls of the dead." Walker replied,
"Oh come on, Walker, don't be ridiculous, everybody knows that you never see anyone again when they die." Apple Bloom said,
"Just because they're dead doesn't mean they're gone." Walker replied,
"You've been reading too many horror stories, Walker." Sweetie Belle said, Walker glares at her a little,
"I have to go, for your own safeties, you three should leave." Walker said,
"What about you?" Scootaloo asked,
"I'll be fine, now go." Walker replied, the three decide to obey and walk back while Walker heads deeper into the forest.
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle decide to go into Fluttershy's cottage and wait for Walker to come back,
"Why don't we go see his dad and granddad?" Scootaloo asked,
"They're at work right now, we shouldn't distract them." Sweetie Belle replied,
"Ah know, let's try askin' Discord." Apple Bloom said, Discord appears,
"Yes?" Discord asked,
"What do you think of Walker, Discord?" Scootaloo asked,
"I hate to break it to you, but Walker's right." Discord replied,
"What?" Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle asked with disbelief,
"When someone passes away, they are not gone, their souls remain, some of them haunt others and possess other people and animals." Discord replied, the three fillies feel uncomfortable,
"How does Walker know about them?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"It runs in his family." Discord replied,
"So... Runner and Sprinter know about souls, too?" Scootaloo asked,
"Of course they do." Discord replied,
"Why do you know about them?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Because I can see and hear them as well, just like those three." Discord replied,
"Why did you never tell us?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Because there are only a few in this world that know about the afterlife." Discord replied,
"You think the people in Sunset Shimmer's world knows about it?" Scootaloo asked, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shrug,
"Well, that's all I'm saying, figure out the rest on your own." Discord said, and he disappears. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sit and wait for Walker to come back, they were silent and patient,
"What? Yeah, um, hold on."Walker said from outside, the three stand up,
"Your youngest daughter is in that cottage over there." Walker said, the three were about to go out and question him but Apple Bloom stops dead in her tracks,
"You okay, Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo asked,
"Ah don't know why, but Ah feel like there are two ponies rubbin' their snouts on me right now." Apple Bloom replied,
"Seriously?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Yeah, it feels like love and affection." Apple Bloom replied, surprising Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, but the two look out a window and see Walker leaving the area,
"Come on, Apple Bloom, Walker's right there, let's ask him." Scootaloo said, and the three run outside.
Walker was walking back to Ponyville and he hears running,
"Walker, wait!" Sweetie Belle said, he begins to run away while the three go after him,
"Wait, Walker, we just wanna talk to you." Sweetie Belle said, and the four run. Walker arrives into Ponyville and looks for a place to hide, he looks back and sees the three were still chasing him,
"Come back, Walker, we need to talk." Scootaloo said, and he keeps running, he sees a table with a white tablecloth nearby and he runs to it, he pulls the tablecloth off of the table with his mouth and puts it over himself, he then lays on the ground. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle run to him,
"We got you now, Walker." Scootaloo said, and she pulls the tablecloth off with her mouth, but the three gasp, so did the ponies who were sitting at the other tables,
"He's gone." Sweetie Belle said,
"How did he do that?" Scootaloo asked,
"Come on, let's go ask about his pa and grandpa." Apple Bloom said, and they run to where they work.
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle go to where Runner taught the colts and fillies who were learning how to run,
"Y'all are sayin' he disappeared, too?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Yeah, we were running to the tree we always run to, but Runner went farther and went behind that tree over there." a filly replied as she points to a tree to the left of the usual tree,
"We went over there to see him, and he was gone." the filly said, the Cutie Mark Crusaders become uneasy,
"When did he disappear?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Several minutes before you three came." the filly replied, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were speechless,
"Come on, let's see if Walker's grandpa is still here." Apple Bloom said, and they go to where he taught those who wanted to learn boxing.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders walk to where Sprinter taught boxing, they see he was not around either,
"So, y'all are sayin' he disappeared, too?" Apple Bloom asked,
"Yeah, he was teaching us combat lessons, then he suddenly jumped over us and landed behind us, we looked back and he wasn't there." Ocellus replied,
"It was so weird, he just disappeared suddenly like a ghost." Silverstream said,
"This is weird, all of three of them just seemed to have vanished." Sweetie Belle said,
"Wait, did you just say Walker and Runner disappeared, too?" Sandbar asked,
"Yeah, a filly said Runner went behind a tree and disappeared, and we ran after Walker to try to talk to him, he hid under a tablecloth, we removed it, and he was gone." Sweetie Belle replied,
"Can three ponies teleport?" Yona asked,
"No, they shouldn't be able to, only unicorns can, they're earth ponies." Sandbar replied,
"Do you guys have any clues?" Smolder asked,
"Well, we did see Discord earlier, he said something about Walker and his guardians being able to see and hear the souls of the dead." Sweetie Belle replied,
"Really? Souls of the dead? You sure he doesn't mean imaginary friends?" Gallus asked,
"We can't say for certain, but Discord said he can see and hear 'em, too." Apple Bloom replied,
"Souls? Do you mean g... g... g... g... ghosts?!" Silverstream asked while scared,
"As we said, we're not sure, we're just here to see if Runner and Sprinter were still around since Walker disappeared." Scootaloo replied,
"And they're not, let's go see if Princess Twilight knows anythin'." Apple Bloom said, and they head to her castle, they see Pinkie Pie appearing and disappearing throughout Ponyville and was calling out for Walker, the three continue on to the Castle of Friendship.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders enter the Castle of Friendship and went to go see Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer,
"Let me get this straight, Walker, Runner, and Sprinter, just suddenly disappeared." Twilight Sparkle said,
"Yeah, and Discord said something about Walker's family being able to interact with the souls of the dead, we were wonderin' if you had any knowledge on the afterlife." Apple Bloom replied,
"No, I can't say that I do." Twilight Sparkle said,
"Walker also said when someone dies, they're not gone." Scootaloo said,
"Yeah, and Discord said these souls can possess people and haunt things." Sweetie Belle said,
"That's just Discord being Discord, he's probably just trying to scare you three." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Still, if what Discord is saying is true, that's actually kind of scary to think about." Starlight Glimmer said,
"Ah think he might be tellin' the truth, we heard Walker talkin' to somepony, said their youngest daughter was where we were stayin', and I felt love and affection, almost like two ponies rubbin' their snouts on me." Apple Bloom replied,
"Rubbing their snouts on you? You sure you didn't imagine it?" Spike asked,
"Yeah, Ah'm sure, it felt very real." Apple Bloom replied,
"You have any ideas, Twilight?" Scootaloo asked,
"No, I'm honestly at a loss for words." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Since Discord said his father and grandfather can see and hear these souls, too, I was wondering about Walker's family tree." Sweetie Belle said,
"I'll check it out, I think it's definitely worth looking into." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Thank you, Twilight, we don't know when those three will be back." Sweetie Belle said,
"You're welcome, I'll let you three and the others know if I find anything, come on, Spike." Twilight Sparkle replied, and the two leave,
"We'll be busy, and it's late, you three should head home." Starlight Glimmer said, and she leaves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders head to their homes and go to sleep.