//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Found // Story: Apple Bloom's Mansion 3.5: Luigi's Mansion // by Lucar //------------------------------// Later that day, the Magikoopa arrived, and with her help, all the ghosts excepted the Polterkitty were released from the crystal. Apple Bloom quickly explained to them the situation, and after the shock of hearing that she had captured Eternal Rest (and that she had been turned into a portrait), they all accepted to remain in E. Gadd's hotel while awaiting the occasion to return home. Some of them also accepted E. Gadd's request to study them. They were ghosts from an entirely different dimension, after all! Who knew what he will find out? Apple Bloom then asked Deep End to help her train physically. She already was strong, was very well in shape, and had a very good stamina, but against Thanatos and his castle full of dangers, she wanted to get better, much better. She wanted to have E. Gadd's Poltergust on her back and still being able to jump. She wanted to be able to do laps around Ponyville without feeling fatigue. Thankfully, E. Gadd built this hotel with a fitness center, so she had everything necessary for this. She also decided to train with the four available Poltergusts. She wanted to master all their features so that, when they finished building the Poltergust with all of them, she would already master it. The white room where E. Gadd presented to her his Poltergusts was perfect for this. The holographic machines present there could create all the fake ghosts she needed to train. And outside of training, she began to study the Poltergusts. E. Gadds brought copies of his three Poltergusts as well as their blueprints for her to disassemble so she could see how they work. She wanted to help E. Gadd design the Poltergust possessing the features of all the others, and for this, she had to know how they work. She already had some experience building Poltergusts when she trained to build one before the incident with Eternal Rest, but these Poltergusts were entirely made from technology, with not a single trace of magic. They were really different. But with this technology, E. Gadd managed to make them more effective to keep a ghost trapped, so if she could ally this technology to the magic of the crystal... Thankfully, for the magical side, she could count on the help of the Magikoopa, named Kamat, even if her magic was somewhat different from the one used by the unicorns in Equestria. At the same time, she retook her studies on ghosts and paranormal with E. Gadd's help with the goal in mind to build that gadget that could turn her into a ghost. When she told E. Gadd her idea, he was immediately interested in this, and they began to work hard together to create this gadget, again with the help of Kamat. E. Gadd also worked to create 'Applegoo'. Following what he did leading to Gooigi's birth, he dumped some of his Lunoman Greenie Blend coffee into a vial of liquid that was actually ghost energy, creating goo. He then inputted Apple Bloom's biological data captured by the Pixelator into it so the goo took Apple Bloom's shape, including the bow. All that remained were to use footage of Apple Bloom using the Poltergust and capturing ghosts to make Applegoo learn by mimic, so E. Gadd filmed Apple Bloom as she trained in the white room. He didn't forget to put in the chip for control and to use the formula to give the goo a fluid quality to pass between bars and other small spaces. In a matter of a few hours, Applegoo was ready, and Apple Bloom began to train alongside her in the white room when she was using the Poltergust G-00. For the next few days, this turned into a routine, Apple Bloom alternating between training, studying, and some moments of rest where she explored E. Gadd's hotel and the area around it, which was the SAME valley than the one back home, with the lake and the mountains. E. Gadd even made her visit this dimension's Evershade Valley, which was also the exact same with just one difference: the presence of a floating crystal moon in the sky keeping the ghosts in the valley from going crazy. And of course, the various 'manors' in here were still in bad shape, nobody having restored them like Apple Bloom did in her dimension. It was almost three weeks after Apple Bloom arrived in this dimension, and about a week after she woke up from her coma. She was actually sitting on a high chair like the ones E. Gadd used, in a chamber beside the lab that E. Gadd gave to her. She was now wearing a blouse and rereading notes she and the prof took after some experiments on ghosts from her dimension. It turned out that ghosts from her dimension were rather similar to ghosts from his dimension, the main difference being that the ghosts from her dimension had less problems with light than the ones from his dimension. Still, the Strobulb worked on them, but instead of stunning them, it dazzled them, not like it changed anything in the end. Stunned or dazzled, it made the ghost an easier prey for her. With those notes, she was thinking of how they could use those data to create her Spectral Transmograftizer as E. Gadd named it. It was a mouthful, but it was strangely easy to remember and pronounce. "Uh. I wasn't expecting to find you muzzle down in notes Twilight mode," suddenly said someone behind her, making her jump. Thankfully, she kept enough control to not throw the notes in the air and fall from her chair. However, she quickly recognized the voice, and she looked behind her to see Discord looking at her notes from above her whither, a big smile forming in her muzzle. "Discord!" "I think it's the first time I hear somepony shout my name with such happiness," commented the draconequus with a chuckle. E. Gadd then entered the room. "Is there something, Apple Bloom? I heard you... Uh?" He stopped himself when he saw Discord who waved at him. "Oh! You must be Discord. Apple Bloom told me about you. So you were able to track her to this dimension?" "Yes. It was easy. I just had to get the remnant of the energy that Eternal Rest used to create her portal and use it to reopen that same portal. Only took me a few minutes. The portal dropped me just on top of this building." "No wonder," said Apple Bloom. "The portal dropped me on the roof of this dimension's version of Eternal Rest's hotel. Since then, the hotel's destroyed, and a new one's built in its place." "Really now?" asked Discord. "Building a hotel doesn't happen in one day. How long have you been in this dimension?" Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. "Almost three weeks. Why? Hasn't three weeks also passed in Equestria?" "Come on. I just said that it took me a few minutes to recreate Eternal Rest's portal. Do you really think it took your friends three weeks to call my help after you disappeared? Only a few hours passed in Equestria, not even half a day. In case you don't know, time doesn't necessarily flow at the same speed between dimensions. This is a little what I feared. I was expecting to find you as an old mare, if not dead from old age. Anyway, are you ready to return home?" Apple Bloom almost immediately shouted "Yes!" but stopped herself, starting to think. Less than half a day in Equestria equaled almost three weeks in the Mushroom Kingdom... This meant more time to prepare against Thanatos before he would act again! "Ah'm sorry Discord, but Ah'll remain in this dimension for now. Can ya bring Twilight and Smart Spirit however?" She smirked. "Give us a few days Equestrian time, and we'll be ready to face Thanatos." Discord looked at her as if she had grown a second head, but then understood. "Oooh! Clever girl! Alright, give me a few minutes. No, wait, in this dimension, this will probably take an hour or two." "Okay. We'll wait. Oh, but before..." Apple Bloom jumped from her chair and entered the main room of the lab. There, she took the microphone beside the main computer, pressed a button, and said in it "To all the Equestrian ghosts! Any of y'all who wants to return to Equestria now comes to the lab! Someone's ready to transport ya back!" Almost immediately after she was finished, ghosts began to come to the lab, some coming only by curiosity like Deep End because they wanted to remain there to help. When ghosts stopped coming, Discord took it as his cue and opened a portal in the fabric of space before he flew through it, followed by the ghosts that wanted to return to Equestria. Once the last ghost passed it, the portal closed. Back in Equestria. Twilight was back in her castle and tried to get over the events of the previous night by doing her favorite activity: reading a book. Starlight was also in the castle getting used to her new nature. It was decided that, as long as she didn't pass on to the afterlife, she would remain Twilight's protégée and student in friendship. Becoming a ghost didn't mean that it was the end. Then, Discord appeared and cleared his throat to gain her attention. He could have used the occasion to prank her, but after the terrible events at Eternal Rest's hotel, he thought that it wasn't the moment. "Discord? Already back?" asked Twilight when she saw him. "Yes. It didn't take long to find the ruins, and for me to find the remnant of the energy like I said. And, you know what? I already found Apple Bloom!" "Really?" asked Twilight. "You brought her back?" "She didn't want to." "What?" "Before I explain to you, I should gather everypony, including Smart Spirit." "Wait. Some of them must be sleeping. It was a really long night." "Alright then, I will just gather the ones I'm sure aren't sleeping." At this, Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting in the room Applejack, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Little Ghost, and Smart Spirit. As confusion spread, Discord quickly said to them "My friends, I gathered you there today to tell you that I found Apple Bloom!" "Really?!" shouted the fillies. "Where's she?!" shouted Applejack. "Is she alright?" asked Fluttershy. "Yes. She's perfectly fine. She appeared somewhere nice where she was given a roof and all, and only three weeks passed for her." "Only three weeks?" repeated Applejack. "Okay, yes, that's a lot compared to us, but at least, it's only three weeks, not, say, three years, or three decades. Speaking off, I should hurry, or night will fall in the other dimension by the time I return there with Twilight and Smart Spirit." "Uh?" "Why us?" "Wait, ya mean Bloom's still in the other dimension?" asked Applejack. "That's what she wanted, yes. Since time flows more rapidly in this other dimension, then she wanted to remain there to prepare herself against Thanatos, invent stuff to fight him and all. So, when she'll be ready, many months will have passed for her, but only a few days for Equestria." "That's... very clever," said Twilight. "As for why she wants me to bring you two, that's because she needs your help." "That's understandable," said Smart Spirit. "With pleasure," said Twilight. "But wait a moment. I need to get some stuff." At this, she teleported. "Bring me with ya," then said Applejack. "Ah want to be with her." "Me too!" shouted the three fillies. "Ah don't think so, ya three. Ya'll need the authorization of yer families first," said Applejack. At this, the fillies spread to go ask their families. "Ah'd also go warn Granny and Big Mac. Don't wait for me. Ah'll be back in a few minutes," said the robot mare before she exited the room. "I will go warn everypony else," said Fluttershy. "That's what I expected of you, my dear," said Discord. Then, Twilight teleported back in the room with a small bag and a pile of papers floating in her magic. "There. All the notes on the researches already done. And in this bag are some of the anti-ghost cannons that were collected in the hotel. I'm sure we can find some use for them against Thanatos." "Good thinking," said Smart Spirit. "I also warned Starlight that I will be absent for the next few days. She will tell Spike once he wakes up, and I told her to tell Spike to warn the princesses." "So we're ready," said Smart Spirit to Discord. With a nod, Discord opened the portal again and stepped through it, followed by Twilight and Smart Spirit. They appeared in the room where Apple Bloom worked previously, but now, it was empty of its occupants. However, they could hear the familiar sound of the Poltergust being used, and they followed it to a big white room. Apple Bloom was there, among weird machines in the floor that were somehow materializing ghosts that looked like ghosts from both Evershade Valley and Eternal Rest's hotel and some others that didn't look like anything they knew, small and yellow, tall and pink, big and blue, green that ate bananas, and so on. At her side was some slimy green creature that looked like Apple Bloom, and at the entrance of the room, back to them, was what Twilight recognized was a human, an old one very small. "Mmh... Those holograms are really starting to be easy for you to fight," said the old man. "Maybe I should put in datas from the portrait ghosts as well as from the ghosts from Hellen's hotel. They should give you more difficulty." "Ah wouldn't mind training against King Boo," said Apple Bloom as she slammed three ghosts at once very rapidly. Then, she spotted Twilight and the others behind the man. "Prof, they're here. Stop the machines." The man looked above his shoulder and saw the ponies. "Oh! You must be Twilight and Smart Spirit!" he said as he pressed a button on some device, causing all the machines to turn off and the ghosts they created to disappear. "We were waiting for you. I'm professor Elvin Gadd, or E. Gadd, nice meeting you," he then said as he went to shake Twilight's hoof. "Nice meeting you, professor," she said. "Nice meeting you too. you were training Apple Bloom?" asked Smart Spirit as he shook the prof's hand. "Yes. Apple Bloom trains everyday to ready herself for when she will face that Thanatos fella and his army of ghosts," answered E. Gadd. "I can't wait to work at your sides, I was told that you were both genius. Especially you, Smart Spirit. Apple Bloom told me that you were the one who invented the Poltergust in your dimension. You certainly know a lot about the paranormal in your dimension." "That I do." "E. Gadd also invented the Poltergust in this dimension," informed Apple Bloom as she approached them. "Ya two're pretty much counterparts of each other." At this, Smart Spirit looked at E. Gadd in another light, making the old man laugh. "How about I lead you to the living room so we can talk around a table with some coffee?" "While you do, I will return to Equestria," said Discord. "Expect me to return in an hour or two again. Your friends and your sister also wanted to come." This made Apple Bloom smile. She really missed her sister and her friends. She couldn't wait to see them again.