In a flash, Apple Bloom came out of a screen just in front of the old man who was sitting on a very high chair in a room full of machines that Apple Bloom couldn't fathom their use, except maybe the computer beside the old man. Apple Bloom also spotted her Poltergust on a table beside the computer.
The old man clapped happily and said "Nice to finally see you in person! Or is it in equine?"
"In pony," rectified Apple Bloom.
"Anyway. I'm sure that you guessed who I am, but let me present myself correctly. I am the professor Elvin Gadd, or E. Gadd for short. Nice meeting you, visitor from another dimension, and welcome to my new hotel, the E. Gadd Resort. You have NO idea how much I want to research you."
"Ooh, Ah may've an idea. If ya're like one of my sister's friends..."
"Then I would like to meet this friend one day if it's possible to open a permanent dimensional gateway between our two dimensions. And for this, I may actually need to do some researches on you. Who knows, I may find something that could help. And while I'm at it, I would love to meet whoever created this wonderful Poltergust that you brought with you. Unless it's you?"
"Nope. His name's Smart Spirit. He's pretty much yer counterpart."
"Crimini! Now I really want to meet him! If he's as much of a genius as me, then the both of us will change the world! Speaking of your Poltergust." E. Gadd turned his chair to face the table and took her Poltergust before he gave it back to her. "Here it is! I'm sure you want it back."
"Thanks," said Apple Bloom as she took the Poltergust.
"Being able to control the level of power of the Poltergust? What a brilliant idea! How did I not think of it? I definitively took note of this for my next version of the Poltergust. And it is so light compared to my Poltergust, certainly a huge bonus."
As E. Gadd talked, Apple Bloom opened the Poltergust. "Uh? Where's the crystal?"
"Oh! Sorry about that. While I was studying it, one of the ghosts trapped in it tried to escape. I had to put it in one of the special ghost-trapping glass containers of my vault." He pointed to a red and yellow cylindrical machine with a small screen and a rectangular metal lip under it in a corner of the room. "You can go look if you want. This is where all the ghosts Luigi caught are kept, including King Boo." With the press of a button, the screen of the vault turned on.
Curious, Apple Bloom walked to the vault and looked in the screen displaying a glass container with her crystal trapped in it. Outside the crystal was Eternal Rest who had been able to get out. However, the glass container seemed to be strong enough to contain her as she attacked it to escape. It was such a pleasure to see her trapped in there! She saw that there were other containers, and with the press of a button beside the screen, Apple Bloom was able to move them, seeing that the next container had King Boo trapped in it. He wasn't happy at all. Looking at the other containers, she saw that they all contained a human version of the ghosts she fought in the hotel (excepted the pirate who, there, was a ghost shark). One of the containers however, the one between the old bearded man (Green Hoof's counterpart) and the caveman (Ooga's counterpart), was empty. Remembering the order of the floors, then it was probably the container supposed to trap Director Cut's counterpart.
To be sure, she asked. "Is the empty container where the filmmaker from floor 8 was supposed to go?"
"Yes, but Luigi decided to not capture him because he was the only ghost who wasn't a jerk to him. Now, he must be out somewhere doing new movies."
Nodding, Apple Bloom changed row and found a row of containers full of Boos. It wasn't as interresting to watch because all the Boos looked identical. They were just smaller versions of King Boo without the crown and the dark area around the eyes, and with a pink tongue instead of King Boo's purple one.
There were no other ghosts in the vault, so Apple Bloom brought back the container with Eternal Rest and her crystal.
"How will we get the crystal out without freeing Eternal Rest? Trust me, ya don't want her out. She killed three of mah friends in cold blood and killed many other ponies and other creatures. And she's really powerful, like, she's the one who's able to open the portal that brought me in this dimension."
"Don't worry, I know what to do. Wait here," said E Gadd before he jumped from his chair and exited the room. He came back a few seconds later with Luigi's Poltergust on his back. He jumped back on his chair, pressed some buttons on his computer, then walked to the vault. He then put the end of his Poltergust in the port, and something apparently entered the vacuum cleaner.
"There. Now, she's in the Poltergust," he said. "Don't worry, the Poltergust G-00 is strong enough to contain her." Taking off his Poltergust, he then returned on the chair and pressed more buttons on his computer. A small part of the vault then opened, and a mechanical claw came out holding the glass container with Apple Bloom's crystal, Eternal Rest not in the glass anymore like E. Gadd said. "You can take it."
"Thanks!" Apple Bloom took the container and opened it, freeing the crystal that she then grabbed. "But now, Ah've to find how to free the ghosts trapped in it."
"Why do you want to free them?"
"They were forced to fight me by Eternal Rest. In truth, there were only a few evil ghosts among all the ones Ah encountered, and they're all in another crystal back home, excepted Eternal Rest's Polterkitty who's in this crystal."
"I see. Well, from what I could discover about this crystal before Eternal Rest's attempt to escape, it's magic, and sadly, this isn't my domain. I will have to call a Magikoopa to help you. This will be the perfect occasion to start studying it! On another matter, I remarked that Eternal Rest looked a lot like Hellen Gravely without her makeup, and you just said she has a Polterkitty too. So, she's Hellen Gravely's counterpart?"
"Eeyup," answered Apple Bloom before she pointed at the vault. "All the ghosts in this vault had a counterpart in mah world that Ah'd to face, excepted the Boos. Ah talked about this to Luigi, he and Ah lived through the same adventures with some differences."
"Oh? So you started your ghost hunting career with a haunted mansion in the middle of dark woods?"
"Eeyup. We've such dark woods just beside mah hometown. The manor appeared in it."
"Then you had to explore five manors in a haunted valley?"
"The exact same ones. Gloomy Manor, Haunted Towers and so on."
"And before appearing in this dimension, you went through a fifteen-stories hotel?"
"With two basement floors and the final battle on the roof."
"But then, if this Eternal Rest was your 'Hellen Gravely', who was your 'King Boo'?"
"It's complicated. Ah fought Eternal Rest both in the fifteenth floor and on the roof, so she played both roles. In the haunted mansion, my 'King Boo' was the baby ghost, and in Evershade Valley, 'King Boo' was the peinter from mah first adventure who had escaped."
"So, in your first adventure, 'King Boo' was Chauncey's counterpart, in your second, it was Vincent Van Gore's counterpart, and in your third, it was Eternal Rest. But then, you don't have a real 'King Boo'?"
"Ah've one, but he puts yer King Boo to shame. His name's Thanatos, the Lord of Death. In mah first adventure, he didn't appear, but he's indirectly responsible. Ya remember Bogmire? In mah dimension, he's created by Thanatos. The inhabitants of the manor of mah first adventure had captured him, but they were betrayed by one of them, Pyrite, that Vincent's counterpart who wanted his family's fortune. He freed Bogmire who cursed the manor and sent it to the spiritual world. The curse killed everypony in the manor and trapped them in what would've been eternity, but Little Ghost, Chauncey's counterpart, became powerful enough to take control of the curse and send the manor back in the world of the living. Mah sister and her friends went to explore the manor but didn't come out, so me and mah friends entered the manor. Ah's only saved from being captured thanks to the intervention of Smart Spirit. With his help, Ah captured Bogmire, saved everypony, and destroyed the curse. However, Pyrite escaped.
He went to the spiritual world and warned Thanatos about me. Thanatos took interest in me and mah Poltergust and started 'playing' with me because he was bored. He sent Eternal Rest, disguised as a living mare, to tell us about Evershade Valley, and Smart Spirit went to the valley to study the ghosts in it. Thanatos then captured him and took control of all the ghosts in the valley, which led to me starting mah second adventure. In this adventure, he killed Smart Spirit as well as one of mah best friends Sweetie Belle, and mah sister Applejack died because of one of the powerful ghosts he created to face me. After Ah defeated his five ghosts and Pyrite, he made me enter his castle where Ah encountered him. We fought, but he barely used his powers. For him, it's just a fight 'for fun'. So Ah captured him, but he easily escaped mah Poltergust, told me that Ah'd won, and sent me back to Evershade Valley with everypony he'd captured.
The hotel was his second 'game'. He sent Eternal Rest to fight me, she captured most of mah friends, and Ah'd to explore her hotel, find the buttons of the elevator and fight their guardians to save everypony and reach her. Ah don't know however if Ah'd to fight Thanatos after Eternal Rest because as Ah defeated her, she opened that portal and sent me here. Ah've yet to find a way to keep Thanatos trapped once he's captured, the crystal isn't powerful enough as ya saw."
E. Gadd did a clap. "Well, maybe I can help you! I may have a mean to keep him trapped! I'm not talking about my Poltergust and my vault. As you saw, they're better than your crystal, but I don't think they're strong enough against someone who calls himself 'the Lord of Death' and who can create ghosts. However, in another lab, I have an invention that could work, and thanks to the Pixelator, we can go to this lab right now if you want."
"Show me!" shouted Apple Bloom excitedly.
"Very well," replied E. Gadd before he pressed some buttons on his computer, reactivating the screen from which Apple Bloom came out. Then, he took a microphone and said in it "Toady? I will be away for a few minutes. If anyone wants to see me, tell them to wait. I will be in my lab in Boo Woods." He then jumped from his chair, took his Poltergust, and walked toward the Pixelator, waving Apple Bloom to follow him.
They stepped through the scren and entered a different lab. This one seemed to be underground, the walls and floor being made of rock or dirt. There was a long ladder leading to a small tunnel in the ceiling, some machines, a shelf full of books, and two doors, one at the left of the ladder and one at the other side.
They passed the left door and entered a long room. There, Apple Bloom looked in awe at the huge machine taking most of the room. The machine was divided into different sections, starting at her left with a section possessing a rectangular metal lip for the Poltergust. This section was connected to another with a similar design, but taller, by a pipe, and this second section was connected by another pipe to a big round section with a round window. This round thing seemed to be full of a liquid, but Apple Bloom wasn't sure if it was water. There was then a conduit exiting the round section and stopping just above the beginning of the next one, a very long section passing below a pincer, then below two other machines before it entered a bigger one and finished with a trapdoor. Behind all this were other sections, giant cogs and other stuff making the whole thing work.
"Here it is!" shouted E. Gadd. "One of my greatest inventions, result of decades of researches on ghosts! The Ghost Portrificationizer!"
"The what?"
"The Ghost Portrificationizer! Just you wait to see this baby work. Be ready to be swept off your feet! Erh... Hooves!"
At this, E. Gadd pluged his Poltergust in the slot in the first section, and Eternal Rest was ejected out of the vacuum cleaner and into the machine that activated as a result. Eternal Rest traversed the pipes and entered the round section where she could be seen floating in the liquid as some kind of blue ball with yellow glowing eyes. The section then began vibrating violently as the liquid swirled as if there was a whirlpool, and Eternal Rest was little by little flattened in the liquid before everything became dark in there. The long section then activated, and some moving plate came and placed itself under the exit of the conduit from which Eternal Rest, now as flat as a pancake, came out. She dropped on the plate that began to move. It passed under the pincer, then reached the first machine from which came a second plate. The second plate revealed to be a crusher to flatten the ghost even more, and Eternal Rest was now as thin as paper. She was then moved to the second machine that possessed pink... things out of which came electricity that shocked the ghost. Eternal Rest then entered the last machine, and something was pressed in it. The plate then came out of the machine above the trapdoor, not with a ghost, but with a portrait. Two claws grabbed it as it was moved to be vertical, revealing what was the portrait.
The portrait was Eternal Rest facing Apple Bloom and E. Gadd, looking absolutely enraged with her red glowing eyes. Her hairs were an absolute mess floating in all directions in a non-existant wind, and purple lightning surrounded her.
As the claws brought the portrait in the trapdoor that closed behind for a second before reopening, Apple Bloom looked back and forth between E. Gadd and the machine, jaw dropping.
"Did-did-did-did this machine just turn Eternal Rest into a portrait?!"
"Exactly!" shouted E. Gadd with a laugh. "This machine was made to turn ghosts into portraits. At first, I was collecting them, but I was starting to run out of money despite my café in Beanbean Kingdom, so I began to sell them. Those portraits are gold!" He then put a hand on the machine and rested against it with a very proud expression. "The ghosts can't escape from their portraits without an outside help, no matter how powerful they're. It's free to you to decide what you'll do with them after. If you want, I will give you a copy of the blueprints so you can build it once you're back in your dimension. Of course, you will have to modify it so it works with your version of the Poltergust. Now, follow me to the gallery so we can admire the new addition."
E. Gadd then opened a door beside the trapdoor, and Apple Bloom followed him, jaw still dropped. They then entered a door with two staircases leading to upper levels and a double door between said staircases. Against the wall on the level just above the double door, there was now Eternal Rest's portrait.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked E. Gadd. "I would've preferred putting in her Polterkitty, but that's not bad.
Apple Bloom was without words.
"Now, let's work on building you a better weapon to face the Lord of Death. Your Poltergust is very good, but I'm sure that we can find ways to upgrade it."
Apple Bloom's shock slowly turned into joy. She finally could see the end of the tunnel. Soon, Thanatos will be part of the past.