//------------------------------// // The Friendship Castle Manifestation // Story: Land of Equines // by Daddy Joe //------------------------------// The Friendship Castle Manifestation June 14th, 2014 I slowly walked out of the kitchen with a double grip cooking pot filled with spaghetti noodles and headed for the dining table where the girls and Spike waited in their chairs. Setting the hot pot in the middle of the table and on a heat absorbing cloth, I removed the lid and steam billowed up before dissipating. "Looks pretty al dente, huh?" I said. "I'll say. You always were good at cooking spaghetti." Twilight complimented. "Yeah, my Foods 101 class in summer school really paid off. Messed up on muffins, though." I said, placing servings of spaghetti covered in sauce on individual plates. "Look on the bright side, they couldn't had been as bad as those muffins I had to eat in the village." Pinkie said. "Those were horrible. I only put too much flour in and tasted kinda bland." I said. "Beginners mistake." Pinkie said, dismissively swiping her hoof in the air. Alright, one for you, one for you, you, you, you, you, you, me.... and one for the dog." I said, giving everyone a helping of spaghetti and placing Bridgette's food bowl filled with Blue Buffalo. When I sat down in my seat, Twilight levitated her glass of water and made a toast. "To our first and successfully resolved friendship problem." Twilight said. "Cheers." everyone replied. We all began feasting on the spaghetti. Pinkie sucked her spaghetti down as if it were rope until it was all gone, so she finished before any of us. Bridgette trotted over to Pinkie's side and licked up any sauce that got onto the floor and lied down. "Good girl." I praised to Bridgette. "Mmm, I must say this is most scrumptious, darling. Quite the cook." Rarity said. "Thank you, Rarity. So, Twilight, what was Starlight's deal with running an entire village dedicated being equal?" I asked. "She didn't say. Like what you saw, she was very angry about exposing her to the villagers and returning their cutie marks. There had to be some motive behind all of that." Twilight replied. "And then she got away by going inside that labyrinth of a cave." Applejack said. "I hope she doesn't get lost or hurt in there. She seemed to be suffering from headaches. Remember how she clutched and rubbed her head yesterday and the day before." Fluttershy brought up. "I noticed that, too. We can only wish the best for her until she comes around and realizes her mistakes." Twilight said. "That's right. I still hate it that she had to tie me up like that. My limbs kept falling asleep if I held still for too long." I said. "Well, at least you didn't get hurt." Spike said. "Right." I said, continuing to consume my spaghetti. After the rest of us finished up our spaghetti and all the dishes were cleaned up, the girls headed home for the night. Twilight, Spike, and I were planning to unpack a few more things that were delivered to the castle over the past two days before going to bed for the night, but our plan was hindered. While Twilight and Spike were busy in the kitchen, I paced around the dining room before situating myself by the front window and staring out at Ponyville. As I walked out of the dining room, the map room, and into the main hallway that goes either left or right, I turned my head to the right and walked down the long hallway that seemed to go on forever. With no particular reason, I went into a random spare room and sat on a chair, alone in the dark. Placing my hands on each knee and drooping my head down, I felt extremely fatigued and black spots started appearing in my vision. I took deep breaths as I felt like I was going to pass out, but the feeling went away before I even could. But, that sudden feeling of being tired was replaced with a tense feeling that pressed down on me. I didn't think of leaving the room at all, I only closed my eyes and allowed it to continue. "There you are. We were looking for you." Twilight said by the doorway. I turned to a confused Twilight and Spike. "Oh, you were? I didn't hear you." I said. "We were calling out your name for like ten minutes." Twilight said. "What are you doing all by yourself in the dark?" Spike asked. "Man, I, uh, I don't really know. I kinda just wandered in here and sat down. I actually feel a little dizzy." I admitted. "Do you need help?" Twilight asked, both now walking into the room. "No, no. I can walk on my own." I said, getting up from the chair and going to the door. As I turned to look back at Twilight and Spike, they remained by the spot where I sat. "Do you feel that?" Spike asked. "A little bit. It's fading away now." Twilight replied. "What? Feel what?" I asked, confused. "Come over here for a second. Don't you get a heavy feeling when you stand in this spot?" Twilight asked, her left foreleg extended out. Sure enough, the atmosphere felt pressurized and even a little bit cold. "Oh, wow.... This is what I was feeling when I all by myself in the room. I thought it was just me." I said, stunned. "It was? That's a little weird." Twilight said. The odd feeling soon went away and the vibe felt a lot better. We all moved out into the hallway and slowly shut the door. "I wonder what could've caused that." Spike wondered. "Hard to say. I doubt the castle would have something to do with it. Maybe we'll find an answer in one of the books that came in earlier." Twilight said. "Those books always seem to have a solution for any problem we come across." I said. As we walked the opposite direction down the hallway, the lights in the castle shut off and everything was nearly pitch black. The only sources of light that remained were the dimly lit scented candles and the moonlight shining through the windows. "That's nice." Spike complained. "Looks like the power needs a little magical kick," Twilight illuminated her horn, offering a fair amount of light. "You guys head over to the Cutie Map, I'll be right with you two." "Alright." Spike and I waited patiently next to the glowing map of Equestria for the power to come back on, but it was taking a bit of time for Twilight to get the power back on. Eventually, fifteen minutes had past and this started worrying both of us. "It doesn't take this long to get the power back on, right?" I asked Spike. "No. Twilight should be able to simply flick the sparkly breaker with a power spell." Spike replied. We continued to wait in silence until a faint voice came from outside the doorway, up on the second floor. When the voice was heard a second time, still a bit faint, it was Twilight. "Guys!" "Yeah?" I called back, raising my voice. "Come up here." Spike and I wasted now time and walked up the stairs to another narrow hallway that goes either left or right. It's further on the left side and shorter on the right. "Head to the breaker room, I'm gonna go to my room to get my flashlight." I said. "Okay." Spike complied. I jogged over to my bedroom and retrieved my attachable flashlight from my closet. The battery was getting low, so I shuffled around for new batteries. While fiddling with the flashlight, a noise from outside the room broke my train of attention. Pssst. "What?" I replied, assuming it was Spike right outside. All I got for a response was silence, so I fast-walked out of the room with my flashlight to find that nopony was there. I could faintly see Spike at the other end of the hallway. Plus, Bridgette wasn't upstairs, she was still downstairs in the dining room. "Did you just talk?" I shouted to Spike. "No." Spike replied, sending slight chills down my spine. I then started jogging to the breaker room. Psssst. I shot around once again and shined the flashlight at the end of the hallway and then my bedroom door, but still no one was there. I then shined it in my bedroom and still no one there too. "What the fuck?" I whispered to myself. After a moment of backing down the hall, I made my way to Spike. Twilight was trying to power the breaker and activate the thing, but her spell wasn't working. It would remain on the breaker for a second and would gradually fade way. "I can't get it to work." Twilight said, stomping her hoof. "So now we just have to try again later or have somepony from Canterlot come over tomorrow morning to fix the problem?" I asked. "That's what it seems. At least we can use the map for a light source." Twilight said. "And Caleb's handy, little flashlight." Spike added. I gave Twilight a quick, playful flash of light, causing her to shield her eyes. But just then, the sound of an unknown object hitting the floor broke the silence and echoed from the other end of the hallway. Followed by the crash was a series of footsteps that went down the stairs, and that was just right outside the room we were in. "Somepony's in the castle!" Spike exclaimed, biting his claws. Twilight and I darted out of the room and discovered a broken picture frame of myself, posing next to a tree. Odd why it was chosen because that picture frame was all the way downstairs. "Damn! That was a good picture." I exclaimed. "Who is in here? Show yourself now!" Twilight demanded, looking over the railing. "Wait, maybe it's Starlight Glimmer?" Spike presumed with his voice down. "You think?" Twilight asked. "It could be. She is a unicorn and knows a lot of advanced magic spells, right? So maybe that's how she's moving from one place to another so quick and the reason the power spell isn't working." I explained. "Maybe you're right. Either her or a ghost." Twilight joked. "A g-g-g-ghost?!" Spike stammered in fear. "I was only joking, Spike. Ghosts don't even exist, you know that. But yes, we must act now, Caleb." Twilight said, warming up her horn for a possible attack, but we would soon learn the truth. In unison, all three of us turned our heads to the sight of someone darting into a room that was across from mine, the door slamming shut. Spike jumped due to how loud the slam was. Without making a sound, we ran over to the end of the hallway and up to the door. "Stay back," Twilight heeded to Spike and I. "Starlight, I know you're upset and angry about what had to be done, but this isn't the way to settle things. Let me help you. Let me show you that friendship is a far more greater in life than total equality. You can still experience it and change your ways, you just haven't realized it yet." Twilight whole-heartedly offered. There was no response but dead silence. "Please let us come in, okay? I can help you." Twilight said, ever so slowly turning the knob and opening the door all the way. As soon as the door opened to the inky black room, a creepy, dark laugh emitted from the corner of the room. It didn't even sound like a pony or even human. Twilight legitimately got scared and backed away from the door, I myself pulling her away with Spike. "Woah, woah!" I bursted out in shock. We expeditiously retreated down the stairs and recollected ourselves to what we just heard. "Okay, that was not Starlight Glimmer.... that was something else." Twilight panted as she nervously stared up at the railing. "I- I know! And that laugh was scary as hell!" I agreed, trying to calm myself. "If it wasn't Starlight, w-- who else could it be inside the castle?!" Spike stammered. "I'm not sure. It wasn't a voice changing spell because only Starswirl could possess such an advanced spell. Unless..." Twilight trailed off. "Unless what?" Spike said. "It could possibly be a Wraith: A spirit that can be conjured with a combination of evil spells or misuse in the arts of dark magic." Twilight said. "But aren't those imprisoned in the lowest depths of Tartarus?" I asked. "Yes, but it could be possible that--" "Wait, wait, wait, I fricken' remember now! Tirek got clawed by something that one day and mentioned a Wraith. Maybe a Wraith managed to slip out when he escaped from Tartarus!" I said. "He did? If that's so, then a Wraith could be our problem here." Twilight said, gritting her teeth. "Surely you have an solution for this, right?" Spike said, gripping Twilight's leg. "I actually do. Follow me." Twilight said. "This spell can destroy the Wraith," Twilight said, opening a secondary spell book. "Before it was even know, the solution to rid of Wraith's were to send them to Tartarus, but Starswirl finished off the last remaining roamer with this spell. The Ultrasound Spell sends out excessive amounts of vibrations that are considered lethal to a Wraith. If done correctly, the Wraith simply disappear out of existence." "Its that easy?" I asked. "That's what Starswirl says, and his spells haven't failed me yet. We better do this quick before the Wraith decides to do anything more sinister." Twilight replied. "I think that would be a good idea." Spike shivered. Cautiously, we made our way out of the room and out into the main hall, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. "Here's what we're going to do," Twilight softly whispered. "We're going to stay close together. Caleb, Spike and I are going into the room where the Wraith laughed at us and I want you to go back into your bedroom and check in there. I can't stress it enough that you scream if you see something, feel something, or you start getting attacked because it isn't going to like this." "Okay." I simply replied. With that, Twilight's horn illuminated and gradually started vibrating, emitting a low hum that tickled my eardrums, and we moved up the stairs. "Come out. Let us see you." Twilight ordered. As Twilight and Spike prepared to enter the unsettling bedroom, I went into mine and quickly walked around, trying to find any ice-cold pockets of air or a heavy sensation. With nothing, I sat down at the end of my bed in an effort to lure it, but nothing was happening. Once Twilight and Spike got further inside the bedroom, the sound reverb quieted just a little bit and allowed my hearing to regain. Just then, a very hostile hiss came from the back of my room, jolting me up. "I heard a hiss. I just heard a hiss, in the corner of the room!" I alerted, moving out of my bedroom. Twilight teleported by the doorway with Spike and we proceeded back into the room. "I kept hearing hissing in the corner over there, like something's mad...." "You're not going to stay here," Twilight apprised to the Wraith, closing the door and creating a containing shield around the room. After she said that, the heavy feeling returned and I got hit hard by it. I nearly fell face first onto the floor, but I made sure to land on my bed mattress. "Are you going to pass out?" "No... I'm just really fuckin' dizzy." I managed to reply, nearly out of it. "Is it this?" Twilight asked, intensifying the vibrations by a smidgen. "It's the Wraith, keep going." I replied. "Okay. I'm gonna go through different frequencies and finish it off." Twilight persisted, drastically raising the intensity of the ultra sound as high as she could. While I lied on the bed with palms on my chest, I raised my head up get a look at what was going on. "Yeah, this is doing something." I said, barely able to hear my own voice. "It's the resonance in such a small space." Twilight said. "Phew, yeah." Spike said, sitting on the bed as well. Twilight continued pushing the limits of the ultra sound spell until it reached its peak, the whole room filled with this ear numbing hum that was probably horrible for the Wraith. It must've had enough because right when I looked over to my bedroom door and saw it with my own eyes. It was around my height, pitch black, and had sickly pointed claws. I couldn't get a complete picture because it disappeared as soon as I got a glimpse of it. I then pushed myself off the bed in a fit of panic and landed on the floor with a thud. "Holy fuck! Holy fuck!" I shouted, trying to stand back up. "What?!" Twilight exclaimed, her concentration on the spell fading. "Oh my God, did you see that?! It's was right there by the door, go blast it over there. It showed up right there, holy shit!" I rambled, trying to see if it moved anywhere. Twilight did as I told her and she just raised the roof with that ultra sound. Spike and I had to cover our ears to how intense the vibrations were. She persisted with her attack for at least twenty petrifying seconds until she completely deactivated the spell and power to the castle was miraculously restored. Slowly removing the palm of my hands from both of my ears, I was relieved to not only find out the ultra sound had stopped and the power was back on, but the feeling of weight pressing down was eradicated. We all remained silent and looked at each other, thinking what just happened was too good to be true, but it was. "Is the Wraith gone?" Spike asked, unplugging his ears. "I... I think so. You guys okay?" Twilight said. "Much better now. Man, that was crazy. I swear, I saw it standing over by the door, I'm not lying." I said as my heart rate returned to a normal pace. "I don't doubt it, Caleb. At least it's over now." Twilight said, sitting on my bed. "So, what do we do now? We just exterminated a Wraith." I wondered. "I think it's best that we send a letter to notify Princess Celestia of tonight's events. I believe we got rid of it, but I want some royal guards to come down here. I just want to be sure." Twilight said. "Good idea. I'm guessing our unpacking is postponed?" I assumed. "Yeah. For now. Thank you for being brave, you two. Well, to a certain degree." Twilight teased, trying to put on a smile. "All in a days work."