Thankfully, she didn't have any nightmares in her hour of rest. Either she was lucky, or the nightmare didn't have time to form.
Having mostly recuperated from her battle against Bogmire, she returned to the manor, not doing much noise to not alert Applejack and the others of her return. She returned to the hallway of the first floor, Bogmire's key certainly opening one of the last two doors here. It certainly didn't open one of the doors in the basement because, from what Crystal Ball told, the basement should be the last floor to be explored since the last room was in it.
And then, hoofsteps.
Darn!
She quickly entered the closest closet in the hallway, and listened, waiting for the hoofsteps to get away.
Then she felt somepony breathing on her neck. Slowly, she turned her head.
"Hey there. Nice hiding spot to play hide-and-seek, uh?" Pinkie said.
Paf! Bonk!
"Uh? Hey, is somepony there?" Rainbow Dash asked upon hearing some noise coming from the closet.
The door of the closet opened, and out of it came Pinkie's hoof waving at her.
"It's just me! Ah'm playing hide-and-seek with the ghosties! But now Ah must stop talking, or they'll find me!"
"Oh, ok," replied Rainbow Dash with a roll of her eyes before she moved toward the foyer. But then, after some steps... "Wait a minute. Since when Pinkie talks like Applejack?" She returned to the closet and opened the door, only to find Pinkie knocked out… again.
Apple Bloom was now in the dinner room, behind the door, listening as Rainbow ran away, probably to find the others and warn them. Thankfully, she went to the foyer, meaning that the others were probably on the second floor. So, rapidly, she exited the room and tested the key on the first locked door, at the right at the fork. Not working, she quickly went to the locked door at the end of the hallway beside the bathroom. This one opened.
Again, she found herself outside the manor, in a courtyard with some statues, dead trees, a fountain, a cabin, and a birdhouse, without forgetting the plants. She slowly advanced, ready to be attacked. Then, as she passed beside a plant, out of it came a ghost with a shear. The gardener. Apple Bloom quickly jumped back to avoid being beheaded by the shear of the ghost gardener before she readied the Poltergust to not give him another chance, but then two more ghosts appeared. Shadow Deers. Using their magic, they raised vines from the ground and sent them after Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom quickly pressed the button to catch the gardener and let him drag her to escape the vines. With some jumps and quick dodges, she was able to avoid the vines until the gardener was captured, his shear falling on the floor. Immediately, she jumped at it and took it, using it to cut the vines. Thanks to the shear, she was able to cut her way to one of the deer, and once close enough, she activated the Poltergust and captured it while dodging the vines of the other. With the first deer gone, she repeated the process for the other.
Strange fish ghosts then started to come out of the fountain, floating around before diving at Apple Bloom. While she was busy capturing those little ghosts, four earth ponies, three pegasi, and three unicorns appeared. Apple Bloom started to run around the courtyard while continuing to capture the ghost fishes, attracting most of the ghosts into a single group as they chased her. Once she caught the last fish, she immediately faced the group of ghosts and activated the Poltergust, getting the four earth ponies, two pegasi, and one unicorn at the same time. Trying to capture all of them at the same time revealed to be as hard as it sounded, and two of the earth ponies escaped, but with some strong pushes and control, she was able to capture the others.
Three griffons and three hippogriffs appeared as a result, joining the remaining ponies in attacking the filly who, again, started running around regrouping as many of them as possible. Before taking on the group of ghosts chasing her, she decided to finish the remaining unicorns to stop their unceasing magical beams. However, when she captured the last unicorn, two zebras appeared, starting to throw their potions, and another deer appeared too, causing vines to chase her again. Cursing, she went after the deer first, using the shear to cut its vines and approach it.
When she caught it in the vortex, she immediately pulled on the handle, slamming the ghost against the ground and stunning it. She then spun, causing the ghost to hit one of the potions coming at her, the potion having no effect on it before she again pulled on the handle toward the approaching winged ghosts, slamming the deer on some of them. The deer was captured just after, and she ran toward one of the zebras to capture it. Apple Bloom did the same to it that she did to the deer, using it to slam the other ghosts and protect herself from the potions of the other zebra. However, as she captured the zebra, she was hit by one of the potions, turning her into a frog.
Like when she was turned into a newborn foal, she took the handle and turned it toward a nearby ghost before pressing the button, and as the ghost was dragging the Poltergust, she rode it. Using the ghosts this way, she was able to get the Poltergust close enough to the second zebra to capture it and return to normal. She then restarted running around regrouping the ghosts, and once there were enough ghosts together, she attacked. This way, she captured all the ghosts rapidly despite the appearance of four spearponies (two earth ponies, one pegasus, and one unicorn) and of one speargriffon.
But now elemental ghosts appeared, two of each elements she fought until now, half of them unicorns while the other half were griffons. A fat pony with bananas also appeared to make her life harder. She targeted the lightning ghosts first, but she saw the water ghosts approach the fountain and use its water to send big streams of water at her. Thankfully, she was able to hide behind the cabin, and once the water stopped coming, she went after the water ghosts before they could restart, making sure to catch the two of them at the same time. She then again went after the lightning ghosts, circling around the fountain to not be hit by the projectiles. Before long, all the elemental ghosts were gone.
The fat pony remained, but before Apple Bloom could run toward it, another fat pony appeared along with four diamond dogs and three minotaurs, and one creature that had the lower body of a pony, and the upper body of a minotaur.
Oh Celestia, it doesn't end.
She didn't know where to start, so she went for her original target: the first fat pony, which was just beside one of the diamond dogs. She trapped the two of them and was able to capture them before the others came. But then, she felt herself being drained and looked around. She spotted the half-pony-half-minotaur, mouth open, absorbing something coming out of her. It seemed dangerous, so she ran away to attract the ghosts, then circled around them to target the creature. It was strong, and was easily able to drag her as it tried to escape, but Apple Bloom was able to hold on, avoiding the banana peels until it was captured. She then could feel whatever was drained from her returning.
"Prof, Ah just captured some weird creature, part pony and part minotaur that was draining something from me. Ya know what it was?"
«No way. A centaur? You are capturing some impressive ghosts, young one.» While Smart Spirit was talking, Apple Bloom ran to the ghosts chasing her and targeted one of the minotaurs, deciding to catch the ghosts one at a time because of how strong they were. «Be careful when you encounter them. Centaurs were known to have the ability to drain magic and add it to theirs, making them one of the most powerful race of the world. Thankfully, most of them were peaceful. But it means that from now, if you encounter centaurs, you should target them first before they drain you. You can use the Poltergust without magic, but ponies drained of their magic tend to be... weak and vulnerable.»
Apple Bloom felt a chill creeping her at this as she was now capturing a diamond dog. One by one, the remaining ghosts were captured, Apple Bloom forced to be careful to not get grabbed and strangled by the dogs, or to avoid the shockwaves of the minotaurs, without forgetting the banana peels of that darned fat pony which were starting to be everywhere!
But finally, she got the last ghost... only for a swarm of parasprites, two cockatrices, and two manticores to appear.
"Pyrite, Ah swear, when Ah'll reach you, Ah'll make ya regret being born!"
She put the Poltergust to red and started sucking up the swarm of parasprites, making sure to not look at the cockatrices and to remain far from the manticores, using the cabin and statues as obstacles. When a cockatrice still almost managed to look her in the eyes, she closed them just in time, stopped sucking up the parasprites, and attacked the beast, quickly capturing it. She finished the remaining parasprites, then saw that the manticores were beside each other, about to jump at her. So she turned the Poltergust toward them and trapped the both of them, still remaining careful of the second cockatrice. With the Poltergust still in red, it didn't take long to catch the two beasts despite their strength. But by now, the Poltergust was almost at the breaking point, so she quickly put it back to yellow to capture the cockatrice.
And finally, the key appeared, falling in the fountain. She swore she could hear Little Ghost laughing.
Grumbling, Apple Bloom decided to keep the shear just in case, and went to the fountain and searched in the water for a few minutes until she found the key. Using it, she was able to open the door at the other end of the courtyard, entering a room that was clearly made for sportive ponies, with punching bags and weights to lift. And the ghost of an orange buffed stallion with a blond mane was lifting two of the weights. The stallion, Topaz, could easily compare to Big Mac in term of bulk. On the floor was his body, the head replaced by two weights above a huge puddle of blood. Yick, the guy got his head crushed between two weights. At least, his death wasn't as painfully horrible as most of the others.
But Topaz wasn't the first bulked ghost that Apple Bloom was facing, so she wasn't impressed and was already ready to deal with him. But Topaz also heard her entering and turned to her. Glaring at her, the muscled stallion took the two weights, and started slamming them together as he slowly floated toward Apple Bloom, threatening to crush her head between them. So Apple Bloom ran around him toward one of the punching bags and bucked it at Topaz's face, stunning him a little. Acting quickly before he could recover, Apple Bloom captured him. As she thought, the stallion put up a good fight to escape the vortex, and with all the weights and bags and all, it was easy to slam face-first into an obstacle, but Apple Bloom was able to avoid them and to keep the ghost trapped, and before long, he joined the gardener in the crystal inside the Poltergust.
However, to Apple Bloom's surprise, two keys appeared.
"What?"
Then, Little Ghost appeared. "One of the keys is for the door to return to the hallway, so you don't have to pass by the courtyard each time," she said before disappearing.
"Ah, the last locked door, of course."
So Apple Bloom exited the room, and said locked door was just at her right, and like Little Ghost said, one of the keys opened it.
And at the other side, Twilight and Sweetie Belle saw her opening it.
"Oh... For the love of..."
"Apple Bloom! We finally found you!" happily Sweetie Belle shouted. "Join us!"
She closed the door. She could take the stairs behind her and go to the second floor to escape them, but at this time, she would just reach a dead end, so she returned to the room where she fought Topaz before exiting into the courtyard. Not deciding to try her luck with the cabin, too obvious, she continued to the first door, and behind her, Twilight and Sweetie Belle were entering the courtyard. Passing the door, she returned to the hallway, paying attention that nopony else was here. Finding nopony, but hearing approaching hoofsteps, she entered the closet she had used to block the room with the instruments, making sure this time that Pinkie wasn't in it. Just after she entered it, she heard the door to the courtyard opening.
Apple Bloom closed her eyes as she heard the hoofsteps coming closer, trying to control her breathing despite her panic as she heard "Apple Bloooom! Apple Blooooom! Where are youuuu?" Slowly, the hoofsteps came closer and closer, and Apple Bloom had to put her hooves on her muzzles to force herself to not make any sound.
They suddenly stopped just in front of the closet.
The door opened.
"Found y-" Paf!
Apple Bloom quickly punched Twilight before bolting out, pushing Sweetie Belle out of the way. Applejack and Fluttershy were then coming from the fork, spotting her running away back toward the courtyard. Applejack looked at Twilight as she recovered from the punch, and the two nodded before the two groups ran in opposite directions.
They will trap her in the courtyard.
Apple Bloom was running in the courtyard toward Topaz's room again, and she was quickly followed by Twilight and Sweetie Belle. However, as she approached the door, it opened, and Applejack and Fluttershy passed it. Apple Bloom was forced to run back toward the fountain until she was trapped between the two groups of two ponies. Before she could think to jump in the fountain, Twilight caught her in her magic.
"We caught you!"
Bad news for her, she was too close, so Apple Bloom punched her right between the eyes, making her drop back on the ground.
"Hey! Ya don't hit ponies like that!" reprimanded angrily Applejack.
"Sorry sis, but Ah don't want t'be brainwashed."
At this, Apple Bloom turned the Poltergust to red again and pointed it at Sweetie Belle.
"No! Please! Not again!" she shouted in panic.
"Y'all give me no choice!"
Using the Poltergust, Apple Bloom lifted Sweetie Belle, then spun on herself, making her hit the head of the three mares before dropping her friend just above the water of the fountain. As the mares were on the ground, Apple Bloom then lifted Applejack before slamming her on Twilight. Rapidly, she then ran back toward the hallway, and entered the bathroom, jumping in the bathtub and hiding behind the curtain before lying down. One minute later, she heard hoofsteps passing, some calls, and after a moment, silence.
Waiting a few more minutes, Apple Bloom eventually exited the bathroom, checking that nopony was in front, before she slowly joined the stairs to the second floor by passing by the courtyard and by Topaz's room. In the courtyard, she almost was seen again by Spike coming from Topaz's room, but she was able to hide behind the cabin before he spotted her. Eventually, Apple Bloom was able to climb the stairs to the second floor, reaching two doors, one in front of the stairs, and one at her right that the remaining key opened.
The new room she entered had two tables with tea sets and some frozen bucket on them, as well as two cabinets on the opposite walls. In clear, there wasn't much place to move, which may be problematic as the ghost of a red furred, green maned very old mare was here drinking some tea. Apple Bloom remarked that she had a Cutie Mark of a scalpel ripping an apple open.
When the ghost spotted her, she smiled and started speaking with a Manehattan accent. "Well, hello little one. Nice meeting you, my great great great great great grandniece."
Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion. "Who're ya? Ya're an Apple, right?"
The mare nodded. "Yes. My name is Applejack. Yes, like your sister. And for your information, I was a doctor," she said with a chuckle.
Apple Bloom started remembering her family genealogy, trying to find a great aunt named Applejack who had probably lived in Manehattan and was a doctor, and drew a blank. "Weird. Ah never heard about ya."
Again, the mare chuckled. "It is no wonder. I did in my life some actions that... disgusted our family. I doubt they talked about me to their descendants." She took a sip of tea. "Maybe your friend can help you find out? I am certain that he must have heard of me."
Apple Bloom started looking at the red mare in suspicion. "Prof? Do you know any Applejack who lived in Manehattan, was a doctor, and did some... nasty stuff?"
«What? Her?! Oh boy... Apple Bloom, do not trust this mare! Doctor Applejack of Manehattan lived about two hundred years ago and is also known under another name: Applejack the Ripper. A serial killer who killed five ponies before she was captured. She plunged Manehattan in terror for a few weeks, a shadow creeping the streets of the city in the dark, ripping open lonely ponies to collect their organs for her morbid collection. The ponies of Equestria of that time and the following years did everything they could to forget about her, but some texts still can be found in some libraries and in the archives.»
Apple Bloom looked at the mare in horror.
She chuckled. "Seeing your expression, you now know who I am. But don't worry, you risk nothing in my presence. Despite my past, I am still an Apple, and for an Apple, family is everything. Well, that's what I would say in normal times, however, I understand that to save your sister and your friends, you must capture every ghost that you encounter, which includes me. If you capture me, then I will be sent to Tartarus with the other psychoghosts. And this, I can't let it happen. When I came to this manor, I just hoped for a nice home to spend my afterlife. But now, a crazy filly decided that we all had to go so her brainwashed 'friends' could live here in peace. How unlucky." She took a scalpel. "So, no hard feeling Apple Bloom. I just don't want to go to Tartarus. At least, I am comforted that even if I kill you, you will continue to live as a ghost, so this is not the end. And I will make sure after that that your friends join you. And I wouldn't mind having some family to spend my time with."
As she talked, mist came out of the frozen bucket, rapidly plunging the whole room in it. By the time she stopped talking, Apple Bloom could almost see nothing, and she was freezing. She took the handle of the Poltergust and looked left and right, trying to spot her crazy great great great aunt. After a few seconds, she decided to run toward a corner to better her chances.
She forgot that ghosts could traverse walls.
After a full minute of nothing happening, she suddenly felt the scalped around her neck.
"Time to sleep, little one."
This little sentence due to Applejack's sadism saved Apple Bloom's life. She got enough time to react, punching the scalpel from her neck before running, turning around, and activating the Poltergust. However, Applejack also reacted quickly, moving away as soon as Apple Bloom moved, so the filly wasn't able to catch her. However, she saw how the Poltergust was sucking up the mist, and she approached the frozen bucket to suck the mist coming out of it while also sucking the mist already in the room. She also made sure to spin on herself regularly to not be surprised from behind again. Before long, most of the mist in the room was gone, and with another quick spin, Apple Bloom spotted Applejack at an opposite corner of the room, cursing.
Rapidly, Apple Bloom went after her, and before Applejack could escape, she pressed the button again, catching her in the vortex. Like all the other ghosts, Applejack struggled to escape. But even if she was an Apple, she wasn't as strong as an Apple Farmer.
"No! I will not go to Tartarus! I already paid for my crimes! I lived 80 years of my life in a prison alone! I... don't want..."
She finally lost strength and was captured by the Poltergust.
Apple Bloom looked at the handle with a frown before saying "The prof'll decide what t'do with ya! But know that if you had let yerself get caught without trying to kill me, there's a good possibility that he would've released ya. Now, Ah'm not sure. But ya're right about something. Ya're an Apple. And for an Apple, family's everything. So Ah'll give a word to prof for ya. Right, prof? What do ya think? Yellow crystal?"
«Well, in one hoof, she already did get punished for her crimes. Over 80 years alone in a prison until she died of old age, that's not nothing. Of course, nothing can repay the five lives she took, but at least she was punished according to law. But on the other hoof, she tried to kill you, her own five times great grandniece. But we also probably both know how stupid ponies can be when they are scared.»
Apple Bloom remembered Zecora, and how stupid everypony was acting because they were scared of her appearance. "Yeah."
«So does she deserve to go to Tartarus? Maybe not. Does she deserve a punishment? Certainly yes. So I will place her in the yellow crystal and let you decide how we will punish her.»
"Alright."
Apple Bloom took the key that appeared between the tables and exited the room before using it to open the other door, entering the second floor's main hallway which was more gloomy than the first floor, only to be immediately attacked by the ghost of a maid armed with a broken broom, the ghost trying to stab her with the sharp broken part. Apple Bloom simply dodged the thrust before activating the Poltergust to easily capture her.
Exploring the hallway, Apple Bloom encountered another maid just before the stairs to the third floor, this one with a feather duster. Again, Apple Bloom easily captured her, capturing by the same occasion the last servant of the manor. In curiosity, she climbed the stairs to the third floor, which was somehow even more gloomy with that attic feeling, but at the top, she couldn't go far before reaching an unique locked door.
Returning to the second floor, she started searching for the only opened door while fighting a few Shadow ghosts trying to stop her. From the stairs to the third floor, there was a first locked door at the left, then the hallway turned to the right where there were two doors in the right wall. However, one of the doors was heavily barred by studded wooden boards, and she could do nothing to move them away. Maybe if she bucked the door from the other side, she could open it. Then there was a fork like in the first floor, with at the right the door leading to the stairs to the first floor, and at the left, at the end as the hallway turned again to the right, two doors in the left wall, and one in the right wall.
The door not locked was the first one of the left wall, leading to a washroom identical to the one below. A minotaur appeared here, trying to use the lack of place to his advantage to hit her with his shockwave without the filly being able to dodge, but Apple Bloom was faster and was able to trap and capture the ghost before it could attack. A diamond dog also appeared to grab her and strangle her, but it quickly met the same fate.
The key appeared and fell right in the toilet bowl. Sighing, Apple Bloom put a hoof in it to grab it before exiting the washroom. It opened the door just at its left, and Apple Bloom entered another bathroom.
There was somepony in the bathtub, taking a bath, hidden by the curtain.
"Uh, prof? It's okay to capture a ghost while they take a bath?"
«Yes. They are probably taking this bath forever, so no need to wait for them to finish.»
So Apple Bloom opened the curtain, revealing a fat dark-pink mare with a red mane: Swift Wave, as well as her body floating in the water. Before she knew it, Apple Bloom was grabbed by the fat mare, and was immersed in the water of the bathtub to be drowned. And the water was cold! Struggling in panic, Apple Bloom was able to grab the handle of the Poltergust before activating it and moving it around, sucking up the water, and eventually, the ghost. Thankfully, there was a vent in the Poltergust for non-solids that weren't ghosts and for solids small enough like dust and ash to escape. Of course, with the ghost being a big one, Apple Bloom was dragged in the water, then out of the bathtub, then she had to jump back in to avoid slamming against its side before the big mare was captured.
The key appeared and fell in the water beside Apple Bloom. She quickly grabbed it before jumping out of the water, not wanting to remain in it with a corpse. After shaking herself to get rid of most of the water on her, she exited the bathroom.
The key opened the door across the hallway, entering a large room with a table, a bookshelf, a cabinet, and a spinning wheel among other things. Not far from the entrance was a rocking chair beside a small table with a bowl full of balls of yarn, and on it was the ghost of the Gem matriarch herself: Emerald, an old green unicorn mare with a darker green mane. On the rocking chair was also her body, impaled in the neck by her knitting needles. The ghost, her, was busy peacefully knitting a scarf. Since she was basically knitting this scarf for over one thousand years, it was now so long that it was spreading on the floor like the mane of Rapunzel.
Then, Emerald looked up at Apple Bloom, and fired lasers from her eyes!
"What the-?!" Bam!
When the lasers hit her, Apple Bloom was projected through the door back in the hallway. Groaning in pain, the filly slowly got back up, looking up at the ghost of the old mare advancing toward her on her rocking chair, the chair sliding on the floor. Two knitting needles floated behind her, and she threw them at the filly who quickly rolled out of the way, the needles planting themselves on the floor where she had been. They rapidly floated back to the granny as she fired other lasers at the filly, forcing her to run away.
"Prof! Ghost granny with eye lasers! What do Ah do?"
«What? Seriously? That was the high-pitched noises?»
"What do Ah do?!"
«Uh... Avoid the lasers and get close enough to catch her.»
Apple Bloom was running toward the door to the first floor, but as she approached it, it opened, and everypony was here on the passage.
"Here you are!" shouted Pinkie.
"Uh... Why is she running away from an old mare?" asked Rarity.
"BECAUSE SHE FIRES LASERS FROM HER EYES!!" Apple Bloom shouted as she passed between them. "RUN!!!"
As if to prove her, Emerald fired more lasers at the ponies, and they all barely avoided it by lowering their heads, the lasers hitting the wall above the stairs.
"Granny ghost with eye lasers. Ok, I'm out of here," Spike said before running toward the stairs.
"I'm not scared of an old mare ghost! Eye lasers or not!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
She was trapped in Twilight's magic as the other ponies started following Spike and Apple Bloom. "You can't do anything against her! You aren't equipped!"
"How can she fire lasers from her eyes?" Rarity asked.
"Because she's a ghostie, silly!" Pinkie replied.
Running down the stairs, they all quickly entered Topaz's room, closing the door before Emerald could spot them as she slid down the stairs on her rocking chair.
Among them, Apple Bloom talked again to the communicator. "Prof! Ah'd like some advice for the lasers!"
«Uh... Oh! I know! Some lasers aren't magical, but light! So use something that can reflect light! Like a mirror!»
Apple Bloom looked toward the door to the courtyard, beside which was a mirror, and nodded. "Alright! Understood!" She turned to Twilight, but before she could say anything, the door exploded, and Emerald entered the room, eyes glowing. As the ponies and dragon looked at the ghost in panic, Apple Bloom quickly shouted, "Twilight! The mirror!"
Twilight looked at the mirror. "Oh! Of course!" Rapidly, Twilight used her magic to take the mirror from the wall. However, Emerald sent her needles right at her, and she panicked. Thankfully, Apple Bloom activated the Poltergust, attracting the needles to her, and meanwhile, Rainbow charged at the rocking chair and destroyed it, surprising the old mare and dropping her on the ground along with her body. Emerald however looked up toward the cyan mare, and fired her lasers, only for Twilight to levitate the mirror right on the way, deflecting the lasers back at the granny. The lasers hit her and propelled her backward, stunning her, and Apple Bloom rapidly took the occasion to run at her and capture her, ending this craziness.
Applejack and the others all sighed in relief, looking at each other in joy. "Nice teamwork, everypony," said Applejack.
"We did it! We defeated the crazy ghostie granny!" Pinkie shouted.
"Now we can have Apple Bloom join us!" Scootaloo shouted.
"Hey! Right!" said Spike. "Apple Bloom! Join..."
They all looked back at where Apple Bloom was, only to see that she wasn't here anymore.
"Oh... She already left..." Fluttershy said.
"After her!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"She probably returned to the room of that ghost in the second floor to get the next key. Let's go," said Twilight.
So they returned to the second floor, going to Emerald's room. However, when they entered it and looked around, they could spot the Apple filly nowhere. They looked under the table, in the cabinet, even on the chandelier, but they didn't find her.
"Weird, I would have sworn she returned here," Twilight said.
"Or she thought that you would think that, so she went elsewhere," Pinkie said, making Twilight groan.
They exited the room to start searching the manor again, leaving it empty. Or so they thought. About one minute after they left, Apple Bloom emerged from a bundle made of the scarf, key in her possession.
"Ah can't believe Ah was able to get away."
«Leave it to the matriarch of the Gem family to give you the hardest time. She didn't have the spiritual power of her little sister, but she certainly had power.»
Apple Bloom exited Emerald's room, carefully traversing the hallway to find the door that this key opened. Not seeing anypony in the hallway, she tried it on the door next to the barred one. And it worked.
Almost as soon as she entered the new room entirely painted like a checkerboard, excepted for a large socle with a pentacle at the center, five candelabra at the extremities of each branch, a fire unicorn ghost appeared, but instead of attacking Apple Bloom, it lighted up the candelabra one by one. Having a bad feeling, Apple Bloom ran toward it to capture it, but the ghost of a diamond dog appeared on her way, blocking her. She was forced to deal with it, and the fire unicorn could finish lighting the candelabra. When the last one was lighted as Apple Bloom captured the diamond dog, the fire unicorn disappeared, and the flames turned purple. The fire unicorn then came back to attack Apple Bloom while five other ghosts, all cloaked ponies, appeared around the pentacle, starting muttering words that the filly couldn't really hear.
Apple Bloom quickly finished the fire unicorn, but before she could attack the cloaked ponies, more ghosts appeared to stop her. Before long, a chilly wind appeared from nowhere and started circling the center of the pentacle, the purple flames extinguishing.
Then, a dark form appeared above the pentacle, and the room suddenly felt as if it was winter. With a laugh, the five cloaked ponies then disappeared, and as the filly finished the last ghost standing in her way, the dark form turned to her. It was a cloaked pony too, but the limbs that Apple Bloom could see coming out of the cloak were skeletal, and its cloak was shredded. And yet, somehow, all the rest of its body was shrouded in darkness, and the air itself seemed to freeze around it.
And pure terror was filling Apple Bloom as she could feel the thing stare at her.
"Prof... Five cloaked ponies invoked some cloaked skeleton pony ghost thing, and it seems evil, really evil. And everything's freezing." She was answered by silence. "Prof?"
«Dear... Mother of All... A wraith...»
"A what?"
The thing, a wraith apparently, suddenly shrieked, the scream like nothing Apple Bloom had ever heard before, chilling her to the bone, to the point that she urinated. It was cold, hateful, evil...
«Yes, that's definitively a wraith. Listen, Apple Bloom. Wraiths are very dangerous. They are powerful ghosts of ponies that are pure evil, wandering the darkest parts of the world and harming anything they encounter, nothing remaining of when they were alive but their hate. The very coldness of death and darkness follows them everywhere they go. Even other ghosts aren't safe around them. Wraiths can harm them like they can harm living beings, bringing them to eternal suffering. If you fight this wraith, Apple Bloom, you have to win! If it remains unleashed in this manor, not only it will kill and make you horribly suffer for all eternity, it will do the same to anything living or dead in this manor, including your friends! And it may actually gain enough power to steal the curse, and then, who knows what it could do!»
Again, the wraith shrieked before raising a hoof toward her. A purple aura wrapped it before a purple beam was shot at her. Apple Bloom jumped out of the way, and the beam hit the floor where she had been. From the impact point, dark crystals sprouted.
The wraith then charged toward her, hoof raised, crystals sprouting from it to form a sharp claw, shrieking again. Despite the terror that the shriek caused her, Apple Bloom was able to move and put the handle of the Poltergust in front of her to block it. The wraith then raised its other hoof, also forming a claw of crystal, and Apple Bloom jumped back to avoid it before quickly activating the Poltergust. The wraith was caught in the vortex, and with a shriek, started struggling to get away. Eventually, it stopped struggling and simply fired a beam on Apple Bloom's path, sprouting more crystals, one of them almost impaling the filly if she hadn't jumped back.
With a wave of its hoof, the wraith lighted the candelabra again in purple light, giving the room some light, before it suddenly sank in the floor. Apple Bloom looked around to spot it when it would come back, but she then saw something that froze her blood: the wraith's shadow about to slash at her own shadow! Apple Bloom jumped away, only for her shadow to still be slashed by the extremities of the wraith's claw, causing a small scratch mark to appear on her flank hurting like Tartarus! The wraith returned to attack her shadow again, and Apple Bloom, despite the pain, quickly got an idea. She ran to the candelabra and used the Poltergust to rapidly turn all of them off, before doing the same with her flashlight, plunging the whole room in total darkness.
And in darkness, there are no shadows.
Waiting a few seconds, she turned her flashlight on again and quickly looked around, spotting the wraith now out of the floor and about to slash her. Before it could attack, Apple Bloom activated the Poltergust, stopping it. This time, she used all her strength to pull on the handle and slam the wraith on the floor to weaken it, then did it a second time and a third time, making sure that it couldn't use its magic. With one last slam on the floor, the wraith finally lost its strength and was captured.
Strangely, despite Apple Bloom not having captured the five cloaked ponies that invoked the wraith, the key still appeared. Darn, this meant they could come back to invoke another wraith.
"Ah got the wraith."
«Prodigious! Absolutely amazing! I'm proud of you, Apple Bloom! Even with the Poltergust, capturing a wraith is still very difficult and dangerous!»
"Th-thank ya, prof... Mmh... Ah think I'll need a bath when Ah come back to the lab... Ah... peed on mahself..."
«You don't need to be ashamed. Anypony in your place would have probably done the same. I will prepare a basin of water.»
"And do ya have anything to heal scratch marks?"
«Oh, it clawed you.»
"Yeah, and it hurts..."
«Oh my poor girl. Of course it hurts. When a wraith attacks, they attack your very soul. That pain you feel is the pain of your soul hurt. And I have nothing to heal that kind of pain. I didn't expect that we would encounter a wraith. The best thing would be to go see a specialist of healing magic who could heal your soul, which can only be found in Canterlot or near the border of Equestria.»
"Will it heal by itself?"
«Yes, don't worry, but it will take some time.»
"Well, it's just a small scratch on the flank. I should be able to continue, and Ah'm already almost done with the second floor."
«Still, be careful.»
"But now Ah wonder... Was Bogmire also some wraith?"
«I would say that Bogmire wasn't a wraith, but certainly had some similarities. Probably because it was also so much different. It didn't even seem to come from this world. So... Bogmire was just an evil, powerful ghost that had some similarities to our wraiths. A... sub-wraith? A wraith-like? I will have to think about this.»
The key opened the door at the opposite of the entrance, letting Apple Bloom enter a rather small room with not many things in it, mainly a dresser and a telescope looking through a window toward the sky.
The ghost of a dark gray furred black maned thestral mare was looking through it.
"Where is she? Why isn't she there anymore?"
Despite herself, Apple Bloom couldn't stop herself from asking "Who's not there?"
The thestral turned to her, anger in her eyes. "The Mare in the Moon! Our Great Goddess of the night! Everything I did was in her name! But now, she is gone! You know where she is, right? Where is she?! When did she disappear of the moon?!"
"Uh... If ya're talking about Nightmare Moon, she returned last Summer Sun Celebration."
"YES!! My Goddess is back!"
"Ya didn't know that? Even if ya were a ghost, ya should've known. Where were ya?"
"Uh... I'm not sure. I don't remember where I was or what I was doing before arriving in this manor. It's all blurry. My last good memory was me offering myself in sacrifice to the Moon Goddess when Celestia's dogs almost caught me."
"Okay... Prof. Bat pony. Fanatic of Nightmare Moon. Killed herself just before she's caught by the guards."
«Roger! Let me search.»
"Tell me! Where is my Goddess?! I must join her to help her rule the world in eternal night!"
"Uh... Ya know ya're a ghost, right?"
"I know! I will probably be able to join her feared army of shadows! Isn't it wonderful?"
"Well... Uh... Ah'm sorry to say this, but there're no army of shadows."
"Awww..."
"Actually... Nightmare Moon was purified back into Princess Luna by the Elements of Harmony. Now she's living in Canterlot with Princess Celestia. She's not trying to rule the world and to plunge it in Eternal Night anymore."
"You lie!"
"Miss. Ah'm an Apple. Apples are known for their honesty. Mah sister's even the Element of Honesty. We aren't good at lying."
«Ok, I found her. Dark Moon, lived five hundred years ago, fanatic, auto-proclaimed leader of the Cultism Culte of the Great Goddess of the Night, which had only one member: her. Destroyed some statues of Celestia, insulted the Royal Guard... The worst thing she ever did was attacking a guard trying to stop her from yelling in public 'Join the Night Side!' Of course, as a result, guards came to her house to arrest her, but she stabbed herself on an altar to Nightmare Moon before they could reach her.»
Poor girl... "Alright, listen, Miss Moon. If you want, Ah can lead you to Princess Luna, so she'd talk to ya, but, ya see, another ghost's forcing me to capture the ghosts Ah encountered in the manor... And Ah fear it includes ya."
"You won't take me alive, you sun loving jerk!"
Apple Bloom facehoofed. "Oh, for the love of Ce... of Luna. Ya're already dead! And Ah'll free ya once Ah'm done with this stupid manor! Once ya're free, I'll ask Twilight if she can ask Luna to come meet ya!" She then looked at the ghost sadly. "Ya know, Luna'll be really sad to learn that somepony killed themselves in her name, even if it was in Nightmare Moon's name. She didn't want that. She just wanted ponies to love her again."
"I refuse to see this Luna as my Goddess of the Night!"
"Your 'Goddess' is no more! Now, she's just Princess Luna, that ya like it or not! Nightmare Moon's gone!"
"Shut up!"
The telescope was suddenly thrown by an invisible force toward Apple Bloom, who quickly rolled out of the way before she ran to the mare and activated the Poltergust.
"Let me go! I refuse to join the Light Side! I re-Aaaahhh!!!"
The Poltergust quickly got the upper hand despite her struggle, and before long, the mare was caught.
"So... Ah... Green crystal, or yellow crystal?"
«Yellow. We will keep her in there until Princess Luna can come. Hopefully, she will be able to convince her to stop that nonsense with Nightmare Moon and maybe find peace. Outside of this manor, this poor girl would just be a mindless wandering spirit. Sadly, some ghosts just don't have enough power to continue being in this world and remain themselves, which explains why some just repeat what they were doing when they were alive without minding the living. But thanks to this manor, those ghosts can gain this power and be themselves again.»
Apple Bloom took the new key. "Ah hope then that Ah won't encounter more ghosts like her. Ah don't want to capture ghosts that aren't really evil and haven't been turned crazy by the curse."
«Hopefully, they will do like the ghosts that talked to us with the portraits and will remain out of the way to not become targets.»
"Say, do ya think Ah'm in the part of the manor consecrated to ghost stuff? There's that room with the weird star where Ah fought the wraith, and now, Ah'm in a room with a telescope, and Ah heard that watching the night sky can be part of that stuff."
«No doubt about this. This previous room was probably where the Gem family was talking with the spirits to learn about them and discover where were their targets. And this telescope was probably to read the sky and know when was the good time to do their rituals. You know, because some spiritual rituals work better in the right circumstances, like in a full moon, or when a certain group of star is aligned, or when a certain comet passes above our head. If you can find the archives listing those rituals and other... 'ghost stuff', I would like for you to bring them to me. It would help greatly in my researches.»
Apple Bloom looked around, then in the previous room. "Weird, those archives aren't here."
«They are probably in another room, remote, so probably in the basement or in the last floor. You know, away of the public's eyes.
"So Ah won't probably find them before near the end."
She returned to the hallway, making sure that nopony was here. She could hear some hoofsteps from the side of Emerald's room and some talking, so she didn't remain here long and went toward the stairs to the third floor, testing the key at the last door here. It opened.
She entered a well-decorated room, with a single table surrounded by a chair and a sofa and with a tea set on it. Two fire diamond dogs immediately appeared and started throwing fireballs at her, and to her surprise, a bird of fire, a phoenix, also appeared, starting to fly in a circle near the ceiling. But she couldn't pay attention to the bird too much because of the fireballs from the dogs forcing her to run behind the sofa. Using covers, she approached the first dog and trapped it in the Poltergust's vortex. But then, as she was capturing it, the phoenix dove at her, its body combusting. Taken by surprise by this, Apple Bloom deactivated the Poltergust and jumped back, avoiding a bad burn as the phoenix hit the ground in a small explosion of fire before rising again toward the ceiling.
When Apple Bloom was able again to trap the diamond dog, the phoenix attacked again, forcing her to let the dog escape for the second time. Annoyed, Apple Bloom trapped the dog for a third time. Only, as soon as she saw the phoenix diving at her, she stopped capturing the dog and turned the Poltergust to the bird before pressing the button again. The phoenix didn't resist long before it was captured, but the other dog was able to hit her on the back with a small fireball.
"Eep!"
Thankfully, the fireball didn't burn too much, her fur not even taking fire, so she quickly jumped behind cover again before dealing with the two dogs. Five more phoenixes appeared, all diving at her one after another, and Apple Bloom was forced to run without stopping while catching the birds one by one until the last one was gone. Then, of all ghosts, a cow appeared and jumped toward her to fall on her with all its weight. A quick roll was all it took to dodge, and Apple Bloom captured the cow, two new phoenix appearing to annoy her. So she let the cow drag her while she jumped around to avoid the diving birds until it was caught. The phoenixes quickly got the same fate, and the key appeared.
But now, the room was badly burned.
"This time, it wasn't me!"
She heard somepony sigh. "We know."
Apple Bloom opened the door at the entrance's left, entering a bedroom with the ghost of a filly sleeping on the bed, just beside her own corpse. And now, Apple Bloom was feeling the need to go sleep with her, but resisted.
"Ah found Platinum Shoes... Ah think she died in her sleep," she said sadly.
«At least, it's a better way to die than what happened to all the others. Bogmire probably put her in some sleeping coma, and without drinking or eating, she eventually died.»
Apple Bloom sighed. "I'll... capture her, and pass to the next room." She approached the sleeping filly, about to press the button.
But then Platinum started talking in her sleep. "Will you... save mommy... and daddy...?"
Apple Bloom looked at the filly in surprise before she answered. "Ah already saved them. Now, Ah've just to stop the curse."
The ghost smiled. "Thank you..."
Platinum let herself being caught without any struggles, and the key appeared.
"How many Gems are left?" asked Apple Bloom.
«Not much. Zircon, Jump Scare, and Pyrite, without forgetting Little Ghost. But remember, you will certainly encounter other ghosts, so it doesn't mean much.»
With the new key in her possession, Apple Bloom returned to the hallway and, with no room left in the second floor excepted the barred one (which she was not sure how to enter), she climbed the stairs to the third floor.
At the top...
"Found you!" Vlan!! "Ahah! You missed me!" Bonk! "Ahah... You got me..."
Pinkie ambushed her beside the door to the next room and avoided the first swing of Apple Bloom's bat, only for the filly to swing again and hit her this time, making the pink mare spin once with stars in her eyes before falling unconscious.
"Darn. With all the times Ah've hit her on the head, Ah hope she won't have problems..."
She quickly tested the key on the door, and it opened, letting Apple Bloom enter a room full of trophies with some crates.
"Uh... Do trophies count as the Gem family's treasure?"
«Of course. They are rewards from old competitions. They must have a historical value.»
A centaur appeared with three unicorns.
"Okay, After I deal with the ghosts, Ah'll send the trophies to ya."
Like Smart Spirit told her to do, she made sure to target the centaur first before it could drain her of her magic, and she was able to catch one of the unicorns at the same time. However, the room was rather small, so it was really hard to dodge the magical beams of the two remaining unicorns while she was being dragged by the centaur. Eventually, she decided to stop catching it and ran so she would be able to catch the centaur with one of the unicorns. Thanks to this, she was able to capture a second unicorn along with the centaur, and quickly caught the third unicorn.
With no more ghosts showing up, the key appeared, and Apple Bloom took it before placing the trophies in the magic bag one by one, sending them to the prof. Once the last trophy was gone, she opened the door in the wall at the entrance's right, entering a very dark hallway, with a door at the right of the one she passed, and another at the end of the hallway. A swarm of parasprites, some mice, and a minotaur appeared one after another as she traversed it and tested the doors with the key. She had no problems capturing all of them before finding out that the key opened the door at the end of the hallway.
The door led to a huge balcony, with two statues, one of Celestia, and one of Luna, at opposite sides, as well as many plants.
Then, a festival of ghosts appeared a little everywhere on the balcony. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, griffons, hippogriffs, zebras, diamond dogs, minotaurs, deers, and a centaur, some of the ghosts holding spears and swords.
"Horseapple..."
She immediately went to the centaur first again, catching with it a zebra and a hippogriff. She did everything to dodge the attacks while the centaur was dragging her; the deers growing vines from around the balcony before sending them after the filly, but she was quickly forced to give up the capture to run away from a shockwave. She immediately reactivated the Poltergust on the centaur, this time catching a deer, two unicorns, and a diamond dog. The deer and the unicorns were gone first, but she had to give up the capture of the centaur and the diamond dog to deal with the vines going at her, using the shear to cut them.
She ran away from the centaur before it could start draining her and finished dealing with more vines before she targeted one of the deers, catching a big group of ghosts with it. She was able to capture a good number of them, but the centaur eventually reached her, and she was forced to give up the few ghosts that were able to resist to finish it along with some earth ponies and another zebra. She got hit by a magical beam, followed by a wing lariat from one of the pegasi. Quickly rolling to avoid the swing of a sword, she activated the Poltergust again, catching another big group of ghosts.
More ghosts appeared, among them, fat ponies with bananas, cows, a few manticores and a cockatrice, a swarm of parasprites, and even some buffaloes, those last ones charging at her in a group to impale her with their horns or to trample her under their hooves. Apple Bloom had to run a lot, and quickly, to avoid the many attacks, quickly capturing the swarm of parasprite before they could devour her. Once she reached the edge of the balcony, she put the Poltergust to red, turned around, and started catching ghosts after ghosts, making sure to make regular pauses to let the machine cooldown.
More ghosts appeared again, then more, then more, yaks joining the party along with phoenixes, donkeys, and elemental ghosts. With their number, Apple Bloom got hit a lot, but she resisted, clenching her teeth as she probably captured the hundredth ghost since this battle started. Thankfully, there was a lot of place to move here, and the statues were useful as covers against projectiles.
Then, a huge arm with a claw rose from beyond the edge of the balcony before slamming on it, causing everything to shake. But Apple Bloom couldn't focus on it too much because of the many ghosts still around. Then, a second huge claw slammed on the balcony at the opposite side, making it shake again. As the number of ghosts on the balcony started to drop, Apple Bloom looked at the edge of the balcony between the claws, and saw a huge reptilian head with a long neck rise, before roaring at her, its roar making everything shake again during its duration.
A bucking dragon.
«What was that roar?! I heard it, and felt it, all the way from here!»
"A-a-a-a-a... A-a-a d-d-d-d-a dragon!"
«You're foaling!»
"Ah wish Ah was!"
The dragon rose its head, taking a huge breath. Understanding what it was about to do, Apple Bloom stopped capturing the ghosts and ran behind the nearest statue, the one of Celestia. The dragon then breathed a huge stream of fire at her, the statue thankfully protecting her, but it was now starting to melt! The fire eventually stopped, and the filly ran from the statue before bites of molten rock could fall on her. Thinking about how she will deal with this dragon, she continued capturing the remaining ghosts. However, the dragon rose one of its claws and brought it down on her, and she quickly had to run before she was crushed. The dragon rose its other claw to do the same, then did it repeatedly, forcing the filly to always move. The dragon then brought its head toward her, opening wide its mouth.
It was trying to gobble her whole!
Thinking quickly, she faced the head with the end of the Poltergust, still put to red, and pressed the button, catching the head in the vortex. Of course, the dragon was BIG and STRONG, so it was able to resist its pull. But since the Poltergust was at red, it still couldn't fully escape the vortex!
With a yell, Apple Bloom then pulled the handle of the Poltergust to her left, and slammed the head of the dragon against the half melted statue of Celestia, destroying the statue and stunning the dragon for a few seconds. During those few seconds, Apple Bloom didn't stop sucking the head, only stopping a little when the Poltergust was about to overheat before restarting.
The dragon recovered and immediately swept one of its claws on the balcony toward her from the left. To avoid it, she got the idea of putting the Poltergust to green. The sudden decrease of the Poltergust's strength led to the dragon raising its head and drag Apple Bloom in the air with it. Once the claw passed under her, she released the button and let herself drop on the balcony to put the Poltergust back to red and restart capturing the few remaining ghosts, only for more of them to appear to help the dragon who started slamming its claws to crush her again before taking another huge breath.
Seeing it, Apple Bloom ran behind the statue of Luna, using it to protect herself from the stream of fire. Once it stopped, she ran away and finished capturing the ghosts, finishing with a manticore along with a centaur and a yak, before she turned to the dragon, seeing it was trying to gobble her again. Like before, she trapped the head in the vortex, then slammed it on the half molted statue of Luna, stunning it. She then didn't stop sucking it up until it recovered and started sweeping the balcony with one of its claws again. And again, Apple Bloom put the Poltergust to green and let the head drag her in the air to avoid the claw, then once it passed, released the head before putting the Poltergust back to red. However, the dragon used its other claw to sweep the balcony from the other side, and she was forced to run to escape it until it couldn't reach her in the opposite side.
At this moment, the door from which Apple Bloom reached the balcony opened, and Applejack and the others came, only to stop as they saw the dragon rise its head before spitting dozens of giant fireballs in the air, making them rain all over the balcony. Apple Bloom was running everywhere to try to dodge them.
Scared for the life of her sister, Applejack screamed, "We must save her!"
Fluttershy looked at her in horror and Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Spike walked back in fear while the five other mares prepared to run and join the fight. However, Little Ghost appeared and stopped them.
"Wait! If you go, you will all die for nothing! You can't do anything against it! Let Apple Bloom do her job!"
"But-"
"No buts!" Behind her, the dragon started pounding the balcony with its claws, creating shockwaves that Apple Bloom avoided by jumping above far enough. The dragon started by pounding its claws alternatively, then slammed both of them at the same time five times. "You would just be hindrances to her. All you would be able to do is dodge its attacks, worrying Apple Bloom, which could get her killed. And look..." The dragon then pounded her under its fist, only for Apple Bloom to trap it in the vortex of the Poltergust before pulling to make it pound the balcony beside her, creating another shockwave that almost got the filly before she ran away to avoid it. Once she ran enough, the shockwave lost enough strength so she could jump above it. Little Ghost smiled. "She doesn't seem to need help."
"She... is right, Applejack," said Rarity.
Fluttershy nodded quickly to show that she was agreeing.
Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, didn't like it, but they were forced to acknowledge that the filly ghost was right.
Again, the dragon tried to pound Apple Bloom with its other claw, and again, Apple Bloom used the Poltergust to make it pound the balcony before she ran far enough so she could jump above the resulting shockwave. Finally, the dragon started taking a big breath.
Apple Bloom clenched her teeth as she looked around. The two statues were destroyed, so she couldn't use them anymore to protect herself from the stream of fire, and there was nowhere else. Risking everything, she ran to the center of the balcony and pointed the Poltergust toward the dragon, ready to take a huge risk with the potential outcomes being life, or death.
The dragon breathed its stream of fire at her, and Apple Bloom activated the Poltergust, starting to suck up the flames in the most dangerous clash. Either the Poltergust will overheat first, or the dragon will stop breathing its fire first. Apple Bloom watched in worry the overheat gauge slowly filling as she wasn't releasing the button.
The dragon stopped breathing fire first.
As a result, she trapped the head in the vortex, then pulled, slamming it on the balcony. She then did it a second time, and a third time, before stopping as the overheat gauge was almost full. As she waited for the gauge to empty itself, she looked in worry at the dragon, hoping that it will remain stunned until the gauge was empty. As soon as it was empty, she activated the Poltergust, just in time as the dragon was recovering. Again, she slammed the head on the balcony, but the dragon resisted and immediately started bringing its claw down to crush her, only for her to run away. It then tried to pound her, but again, she slammed the head, stopping its attack. She slammed it again, and again, and then...
The head started approaching the Poltergust. The dragon put its claws against the edge of the balcony to resist, but it still lost the fight, and its head entered the machine. Its body then started spinning in the vortex as it was sucked up, the neck entering, then the torso, then its belly along with its arms... Finally, its ghost tail entered the Poltergust, and the shock of it entering propelled Apple Bloom backward, on her back, with a huge PUFF!
The key appeared just at her right as the filly breathed heavily, absolutely drained of energy, and hurt.
"Ah... Ah... AH... captured... it..."
«There is no word to express what I want to say... That's... You have surpassed me, Apple Bloom. Definitively. But you should come back. You really need rest, and there's a bath ready for you.»
"Yeah... Give me... a few minutes."
But then, she was surrounded by ponies and a dragon looking at her with awe and happiness. And for Applejack, with pride.
The orange mare hugged her. "Ah'm so proud of ya, Apple Bloom! Ya caught a dragon! That was..."
"That was awesome!" shouted both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.
"You were amanishing!" shouted Pinkie.
Apple Bloom laughed, smiling at the praises. "Thank ya, everypony."
"As a reward," started Twilight with a big smile. "You will join us!"
...
"Drat..." said Apple Bloom with horror. In the forelegs of somepony she shouldn't be in the forelegs right now.
"Yes, it is time for you to join us," Rarity said.
Apple Bloom looked around for a way to get out of this. Then, she saw the vines of the deers still on the balcony, and got an idea. She headbutted Applejack, getting her to drop her, then used the Poltergust to slam her on Twilight to stop the lavender mare from using her magic, only to be caught in Rarity's magic. So she took the Poltergust from her back and threw it at the mare, hitting her on the head. Back on the ground, Apple Bloom took the key and quickly ran to grab the vacuum, only to see Rainbow Dash charging at her. So she stopped, took her bat, and placed it horizontally right on the cyan mare's path. Rainbow Dash's head hit it, but she still pushed the filly back toward Rarity's legs before crashing on the ground. Apple Bloom quickly put the Poltergust on her back as she started running toward the nearest vine. Pinkie Pie jumped in her way to stop her, now wearing a helmet.
"You won't be able to hit me on the head this time!"
So Apple Bloom did something else: she charged head first, right in Pinkie's belly, knocking the breath out of her. Apple Bloom then used the Poltergust to lift the pink mare before slamming her behind her. Rarity, who had recovered, as well as Fluttershy, Spike, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, were running after her, quickly followed by Applejack and Twilight, whose horn started to lighten. But Apple Bloom then reached the vine and climbed it before using it to slide all the way back to the courtyard, vines now present everywhere on it.
"Seriously?!" she heard Twilight shout.
"I'm after her!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "You come with me, Flutter!"
So Apple Bloom hastened to the door to the first floor's hallway, the pegasi on her tail, passed it, then slammed the door right on Rainbow's nose. By the time Rainbow recovered, Fluttershy remaining at her side, Apple Bloom already reached the foyer, and exited the manor.
"Hundreds of ghosts, a crazy great aunt, a wraith, a dragon! You never cease to impress me since you returned to the manor! And I was already really impressed after you captured Bogmire! You cleared the first floor, and the second floor, and you started the third floor! When you return in it, you will probably finish the rest of the manor!"
"But who knows what other horrors Ah'll encounter."
"After the wraith and the dragon, I don't think you will encounter anything worse."
"Don't talk too fast... Life proved there's always worse."
Back in the lab, Smart Spirit was transferring the ghosts in the crystals while Apple Bloom was taking a bath to get rid of the urine on her. Before that, Apple Bloom drank a healing potion that Smart Spirit got from Zecora to heal all the wounds she got in the battle on the balcony, without forgetting the small wounds she got before, like the scratchs or the burns. Sadly, the potion couldn't heal the wound to her soul that the wraith inflicted to her. Like Smart Spirit said, she will either have to go see a specialist, or wait for it to heal with time. But at least the pain became more bearable.
"What do ya think Ah'll encounter after that?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I don't know. Anything, really. You could even end up fighting a hydra for all I know. After the dragon and the wraith, everything is possible."
"Maybe Ah'll encounter a windigo."
"That would be your luck. Ohohohohoh." Apple Bloom got out of the bath, and as she used a towel, the prof said "The bed is ready for you. After such a battle, you need some rest, again. Meanwhile, I will go put all those trophies in your clubhouse."
"Yeah. No objection."
"And Apple Bloom."
"Yeah?"
Smart Spirit gave his biggest smile. "We're almost done! Just a little more effort!"
Apple Bloom smiled. "Eeyup!"