//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Kitchen Mess // Story: Apple Bloom's Mansion 4: The Castle of Death // by Lucar //------------------------------// Apple Bloom and the others exited the laundry room of the East wing, finally finished there. The East wing had been pretty much like the West wing, like they expected. The only difference had been which ghosts they encountered in the rooms, and the rooms of the third floor had different decos. For exemple, one of the rooms looked like it belonged to some kind of game show designer, the room having many papers with plans of games, all of them looking deadly. There was also a room that clearly belonged to a composer. There were also the now usual more-powerful-than-average ghosts who still weren't really challenging. One of them, encountered in the second floor, had been a dark magic user, but nowhere as powerful as somepony like Sombra. In one of the rooms of the third floor, they also encountered a griffon who had been able to send feathers from her wings like arrows, forcing Apple Bloom to take cover behind a knocked off table. Then, in the laundry room, another clothe golem was encountered with two Icys, a Puffer, and two Tail Spears. The Puffer had been really annoying because he prevented the ponies from approaching the other ghosts, and the golem was smart enough to not approach them, instead opting to simply throw stuff at them. Thankfully, the Puffer could only target one direction, so the ponies only had to separate to overwhelm him, capture him, and capture the others. Like in the other laundry room, wraiths appeared, four this time, but they were quickly eliminated. Actually, at first, they thought that there had been more wraith, like, a dozen, but it turned out that some of the shadows were actually dark constructs, probably created by Thanatos to add some spice. Those constructs were easily destroyed by a Poltergun beam, but there was no doubt that in bigger number, or associated with other ghosts, those things will be dangerous. They will have to be really careful of the shadows now, at all times, not just when it suddenly turned cold like it usually happened in the presence of wraiths. Nice way to turn them paranoid. Anyway, now that the West and East wings were finished, they could return to the main dish. Or will they? "Do we do the North wing now?" asked Sweetie Belle hesitently. ... "Later," answered Apple Bloom. "Not now." Seeing that the key they just obtained led to the second floor of the main wing, they decided to use the only key that led to somewhere in the first floor for now: the one they got from the West wing. It wasn't far, they just had to return to the entrance hall, then take the West door, and the doors to open were just at the right. On the way, of course, they had to fight some possessed armors, some possessed gargoyles, many Wisps floating around, and a couple of guards, along with a few random pony ghosts who armed themselves with the weapons that were on the walls, including a colt who thought he was smart attacking them with a slingshot. The entrance hall also had some griffons and two Pranksters waiting for them. No respite for the livings as they say, even if only one member of the group was truly alive... They reached the first of the two doors that the key opened in the West hallway, and they unlocked it. However, where usually the key disappeared upon use, this one didn't disappear, probably so they could use it to unlock the second door just at the left. Little Ghost quickly went to unlock it while the others entered what revealed to be a mess hall, full of tables to eat. And full of ghosts, waiters, a couple of cooks, and even three Big Brains ready to throw stuff at them. One of the waiters took possession of a huge cake that looked like it could be part of a wedding, and the next instant, the cake wanted to eat them. «Oh no... Not the pony-eating cake! NOT THE PONY-EATING CAKE!» shouted Pinkie Pie. At the same time, another waiter began to levitate ALL the cutleries present in the room (and there was A LOT) and pointed them at Apple Bloom who immediately knocked off a table to protect herself. But the cluteries were thrown with such force that they damaged the table, and some even traversed it (thankfully missing Apple Bloom)! Apple Bloom then turned herself into a ghost and flew from behind the table before charging toward the waiter. Little Ghost went to deal with the cake, destroying it chunk by chunk with her powers as it was revealing to be more resistant than planned, when a ghost that reminded a little of Bogmire appeared and took possession of all the tables, chairs, and even of the closets where the plates, cutleries, salt shakers (not all ghosts were ponies) and pepper pots were stored. Applejack immediately smashed her front hooves on the ground, creating a shockwave. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as well as the clones of goo jumped above it, and the shockwave went for a good distance, damaging a lot of objects including the cake before it disappeared. Applejack then went to attack the possessed objects helped by Scootaloo while Sweetie Belle simply went to target the more normal ghosts with the clones of goo. Apple Bloom managed to capture her waiter just before she had to turn back to normal, and she went to try to capture the Bogmire-like ghost only for it to form a wall with some of the tables between it and her. The ghost then sent the wall of tables toward her, and Apple Bloom didn't have any hope to avoid it. But then, Applejack came and destroyed one of the tables, opening a hole in the wall that they used to avoid being rammed. Sweetie Belle and the clones of goo weren't so lucky however as they were too busy capturing ghosts. Sweetie Belle growled as she recovered, then sang, getting one of the ghosts, a cook, under her control. She immediately sent the ghost to deal with the Bogmire-like ghost while she returned to capturing the ghosts with the clones of goo (who survived despite the hit). The ghost cook was armed with a pan and took the Bogmire-like ghost offguard, hitting it on the head as it was focused on pushing back Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Scootaloo with the objects it took possession of, which were beginning to seriously diminish in number. Annoyed, the Bogmire-like ghost grabbed the cook and sent him toward the now almost destroyed cake. The cake saw him coming and... opened its mouth to devour the ghost. The cake then spat the pan at Little Ghost, successfully hitting her with it. «D-d-d-did the cake just eat a ghost?!» shouted Twilight in horror. «Yike! I didn't know it was possible for a ghost to be eaten,» said E. Gadd. With Little Ghost away for now, the cake targeted Apple Bloom and bounced toward her, mouth wide open. Having no choice, Apple Bloom left Applejack and Scootaloo to finish with the Bogmire-like ghost and ran around the cake while firing fireballs at it with her Poltergust. Little Ghost thankfully quickly came back and helped her finish it with her powers. The cake was already well damaged, so it didn't take long to cause it so much damage that it simply melted, leaving two ghosts: the waiter who possessed it and the cook that had been devoured (who was very confused). The two were quickly captured. Scootaloo managed to pass between the remaining tables at this moment and to reach the Bogmire-like ghost, beginning to suck it up with her Poltergust. Let's put it simply, the thing had power, but physically, it had almost nothing, so it barely resisted the vortex and couldn't stop itself from being slammed. It threw the remaining tables and chairs one after another to try to stop her, but Applejack protected her, resulting in the ghost being caught after two full-powered Power Surges. When it was captured, the few tables and chairs that weren't destroyed stopped moving, and the ones that were floating dropped. The few ghosts that remained were easily captured after that, making a key appear. This key opened the two doors in the West wall, obviously the doors to the kitchen. Now that everything was calm, they could even hear someone singing in Bitalian. So cliche. When it wasn't Prench, it was Bitalian. «I don't know why, but I feel that there will be a big fight in the next room. Be careful,» warned E. Gadd. Apple Bloom frowned. "Kitchens have always been problematic, excepted the ones in Evershade Valley. The cook back in the Gem Manor gave me nightmares for a few days." "And I have bad memories of the kitchen of Eternal Rest's hotel," said Little Ghost. «And now, this is Thanatos' kitchen... Things will be very messy, I don't doubt,» said Smart Spirit. They just opened one of the two doors, entering the kitchen that looked pretty much like the one back in Eternal Rest's hotel, but a little bigger, with ovens, stoves, counters, sinks, and a lot of shelves. A lot of ghosts were present, all cooks, mainly ponies, but also a few griffons, a minotaur, and even one of those bipedal cats. The one who was singing was a very fat beige earth pony stallion with a brown mane. He was actually busy stirring a broth with various things floating in it. Including meat. And knowing this castle, the ponies weren't sure they wanted to know what kind of meat. "Aaah. Our guests have arrived. I heard the commotion from the other room," began the chef before he stopped stirring the broth and looked at them with an unnerving smile. "I was waiting for you. You're just in time for dinner." "Let me guess, Ah'm the main course?" asked Apple Bloom. The chef gave a belly laugh. "You got it right! Many residents of this castle are quite fond of pony meat, including our Lord!" He then licked his lips. "And including me." "Aaand it's the Bloody Cook all over again," sighed Apple Bloom. The chef huffed. "Come on. I'm not that beast. I'm more refined. And my name is Buon Gusto, nothing to do with him." «Buon Gusto? I think I heard about this guy. Wait a minute,» said Smart Spirit. Gusto suddenly waved a hoof at the door from which the ponies came, and it suddenly closed before it was covered by a purple barrier. "Come on, everyone, we have a meal to prepare for the Lord!" shouted the chef before all the other cooks went after the ponies, some of them arming themselves with pans, knives, and rolling pins. Some also levitated plates to throw them. Despite their number, the cooks weren't powerful. The ponies just had to avoid the thrown plates (making quite a mess), approach the nearest cooks, trap them, and slam them on the others. A tactic that proved its effectiveness in the past and that still worked very well now. Still, Sweetie Belle decided to put her Poltergust to red mode to make the fight a little easier, because there were really many cooks, and they were joined by a few other random ghosts. There were even some of those shadow constructs that appeared, forcing the ponies to be more careful. Surprisingly, Gusto didn't attack and had actually disappeared, which worried the ponies a lot. "Somepony sees him?" asked Apple Bloom. "Nope, but Ah'm keeping an eye open for him," answered her sister. "Me too. I don't want him to come out of nowhere and to do like Cordon Bleu did to me," said Little Ghost. "Too bad I wasn't here. It seemed funny to watch," said Scootaloo with a small laugh. "It wasn't!" Eventually, the last cook was captured by Applegoo, and Applejack captured a few Wisps that remained (those things were now almost everywhere) while Sweetie Belle destroyed the last Shadow. "So the meal is fighting back. I didn't expect less," suddenly said Buon Gusto, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere. "I heard about your exploits, the most recent one being the capture of Eternal Rest herself! But remember what I said, I knew you were coming!" Suddenly, a large quantity of dough flew out of various containers a little everywhere in the room and began to gather in the air. "So I prepared myself to fight you! I may not be as powerful as Eternal Rest, but there's no way you will be able to defeat me! As he talked, more dough gathered, slowly taking shape of something. "After all..." Finally, the last drop of dough joined the rest to form some kind of giant pony-monster of dough that stared down at the ghost hunters with a big smirk, the dough forming sharp teeth. "How do you expect to fight something made of dough? MWAHAHAHAHA!" «By eating it?» answered Pinkie Pie. "Uh... We'd need at least a dozen ponies to devour that thing..." said Apple Bloom. "Or two dozens..." "Make it three," corrected Sweetie Belle. "Unless the ponies are all like Pinkie, then yes, a dozen would be enough." «You're underestimating Pinkie. She could devour the whole thing by herself,» said Rainbow Dash. «Totally!» «And somehow, she wouldn't even gain one pound,» complained Rarity. At this moment, the dough monster swept the tables and the floor with one of its hooves of dough, catching everything on them. The next instant, dozens of big knives poked out of the hoof, making it look like a giant studded bat. It then went to punch Apple Bloom with it, and the filly quickly jumped out of the way. "How do we fight a dough monster?" "Isn't it obvious? We cook it!" answered Apple Bloom as she shot a stream of fire at the monster, causing a small part of it to start to harden. "What?! You can use fire?! I will not let you!" shouted the monster before it turned itself into a wave of dough that caught everypony excepted Little Ghost, trapping them in its body. "Now, you will choke to death!" But then, Apple Bloom came out of its body as a ghost, carrying Sweetie Belle. Little Ghost also sent a shockwave that destroyed a big part of the monster's body and forced Applejack and Scootaloo out. The dough monster however reformed and stared at Apple Bloom. "You can turn into a ghost?" "Eeyup," answered Apple Bloom as she dropped Sweetie Belle who immediately began to shoot fire. Everypony else did the same from all sides of the dough monster excepted Scootaloo who turned into a scooter and went to roll on the dough, leaving a trail of fire wherever she passed. The clones of goo couldn't shoot fire however because of their vulnerability to it. The monster was totally burning, causing all the dough forming its body to harden more and more. "Rngh... It won't be enough to defeat me. Even hardened, I can still move." To prove its point, the monster tried to punch Apple Bloom again, the filly having returned to normal. Its body, totally hardened, now cracked as it moved, but it still was able to move its hoof. Apple Bloom still avoided the punch, and Applejack then came and bucked the hoof, destroying it. "But now, we can do that!" shouted the mare. "And that!" shouted Little Ghost as she sent a wave of energy hitting the head of the monster, destroying it. The monster was now totally vulnerable, and the ponies began to hit it from all sides with air blasts, destroying it piece by piece. Gusto still managed to create two new eyes on the body, and he tried to attack with the monster's back legs, kicking left and right. Another wave of energy from Little Ghost finished it, what remained of the monster exploding into big piece of cooked dough, revealing Buon Gusto who stared at the ponies in disbelief. «I have it! Buon Gusto, chef of a five star restaurant, one of the few that served meat for non-ponies. Guess what some of the meat was. Killed himself before he could be arrested.» informed Smart Spirit. "So, somepony thought he'd escape justice?" smirked Applejack as she pointed her Poltergust at the now panicking fat stallion. "What a mistake," said Apple Bloom with a giggle. "Alright, girls! At three!" Gusto screamed and began to fly away. "Three!" shouted Apple Bloom, and everypony activated their Poltergust. Despite his weight, Gusto wasn't able to escape five ponies, even if four of them were fillies. Scootaloo still fired a Poltergun beam at him to calm him down and make it easier, and together, they slammed him before they finished him with a Power Surge. The shield blocking the exit door disappeared, and no less than three keys appeared. "Still, he'd a good idea. If we'd fought him with our previous Poltergusts, we'd have had more problems," commented Apple Bloom before she took the keys. "Three keys?" Following the arrows, one opened the door in the North side of the kitchen, another opened the door in the South side, and the last one opened the second West door. «The South door leads back to the hallway,» informed E. Gadd. "So, a shortcut," said Sweetie Belle before she took the corresponding key and went to open this door while Little Ghost went to open the second door between the kitchen and the mess hall. Apple Bloom then gave the key to the North door to Scootaloo while she went to open the East door. The North door revealed to lead to a staircase which, according to the map, led back to the Great Hall. As for the East door, it revealed a large room that seemed to be a storeroom with some tables, many chairs stacked on each others, and various sparing tools and furniture for the kitchen. There weren't much lights, but the ponies could already see the presence of only one door, at their left. More waiters and cooks awaited them in this room, as well as a couple of maids, a guard with a crossbow, and a very muscled pony who already had a table ready to be thrown on the ponies. Three Tail Spears, a Bulky, and a dozen of Hidders were also present. The thrown table was promptly avoided, and Applejack immediately went after the responsible while Apple Bloom targeted the Bulky (while keeping an eye on the Tail Spears). The Hidders were the most annoying in the end despite the arrival of a Sneaker, two Creepers, and a new black griffon-like ghost that was also invisible, and very dangerous because he actually tried to impale the pony he targeted with his very sharp claws. He was given the nice name of Assassin. The Hidders were the last ones to be captured, leaving the way open to the door that was at the left. Behind the door was a smaller room, also much colder. A cold room. Full of meat. There were full carcasses. Of ponies. Somepony puked from E. Gadd's side. Thankfully, there were only four Icys, a dog, and a cook present in this room, all rapidly captured. The ponies quickly took the key and exited the room. "L... Let's forget about this room," said Applejack. "Easy to say..." said Scootaloo. "Once we're done with Thanatos, we'll destroy that castle of Tartarus," said Apple Bloom. The key didn't lead far. It opened the first door in the East side of the kitchen. After sucking up a few Wisps that had appeared in the kitchen while they were away, they unlocked it, revealing a staircase leading down to what was obviously a cellar full of bottles of wine, barrels of whatever, bags of flour, and crates of food. And a few skeletons on the ground... No ghosts appeared when they entered excepted some Wisps and mice, but they quickly discovered that it was because they were invisible. Sneakers, Creepers, and Assassins. So the ponies went back to back and used the DLD to force the ghosts to appear and have an easier time capturing them. Shadows eventually appeared, one of them managing to bite Little Ghost's shadow, making her yelp in pain before she destroyed it in revenge. When the last Assassin was captured, a Bogmire-like ghost appeared and took possession of the skeletons, and wraiths appeared with the Shadows who continued to come. And as if that wasn't enough, Wisps appeared and entered one of the crates. The next instant, the crate opened, and apples floated out of it, the fruits now possessing big fanged mouths. More Wisps entered other crates, causing more fruits and other food to float out, ready to have a piece of pony. While it made them more dangerous, they were still as easy to eliminate, the Poltergusts being able to suck up the fruits and other food, and the Wisps with them. "An apple trying to eat an Apple. Ah've seen everything," said Applejack. "Nope, ya haven't," replied her sister. Then, when the Bogmire-like ghost was captured, something else appeared. The ponies weren't sure what it was, but it was the same purple as Bogmire and the other creations of Thanatos. This one, however, was a round blob of ectoplasm with four eyes, a big mouth, and a dozen tentacles. Some of the tentacles grabbed bottles of wine to use as weapons while others lifted crates, barrels, and bags to throw. One of the tentacles even tried to grab Apple Bloom, but she didn't let it and sucked up the tentacle instead, making the thing roar as the tentacle was teared off of its body. So the ponies found themselves having to avoid everything that it threw at them while destroying the remaining shadows and capturing the remaining wraiths and Wisps. When everything was done, they all focused on the blob, beginning to suck up its tentacles one by one. When all the tentacles were sucked up, the blob was left totally vulnerable, only for it to open its mouth wide, revealing a long tentacle-like tongue that tried to grab Apple Bloom (probably to eat her). But like for the first tentacle, the filly managed to catch the tongue with her Poltergust. Applejack had to hold her however to avoid that she ended in the blob's mouth. Eventually, the tongue was entirely sucked up, and the blob followed. And the key finally appeared. "That thing's the creepiest ghost ever," said Apple Bloom. "It wasn't powerful compared to others like Bogmire, but it's really disturbing." "Yeah, and who knows what other horrible things Thanatos created and are roaming this castle," said Scootaloo. "Luigi did well to not come with us," commented Sweetie Belle. "The poor guy would have had at least ten heart attacks by now," laughed Little Ghost. «He already had some close calls just by watching,» said E. Gadd. «And, well, to tell you the truth, I think that everybody here is glad to not be in your place, excepted Mario.» «And me!» said Discord. «You have no idea how much I want to be there with you to stop my brother.» The ponies left the cellar and saw that the key they obtained led out of the kitchen by the South door. Before they could go, however... "Wait. What about the last door in the mess hall?" wondered Sweetie Belle. "Uh. Oh, right. There was a last door in the corner," said Scootaloo. «Yes. And it seems to lead to a small place between the mess room and the entrance hall,» informed E. Gadd. «But I don't know if it's a locked door. Maybe, maybe not.» "Mmh... We should verify," said Apple Bloom. "It's weird that we didn't get a key to open this door while we did the whole kitchen area." They all nodded and returned to the mess hall. After dealing with the ghost of a deer that had wandered in the room for some reason, they went to the famous door, present in the Southeast corner of the room, just North of the entrance hall. They tested it, and it revealed to be unlocked. Only for it to lead into a closet with some janitor stuff, probably to clean the mess hall and the kitchen once meal time passed. "Well, no wonder we didn't get a key. There's nothing," said Scootaloo. "Wait. What's that?" asked Little Ghost as she pointed at something partially hidden in a bucket in a corner. Applejack looked into the bucket and grabbed a wooden thing that looked like a T. She scrutinized it, but found nothing that could indicate what it was, and what it was for. «Something tells me that you should keep it. You don't find a T-shaped object hidden in a bucket in a closet without reason,» advised E. Gadd. Applejack nodded. "Ah'll hold it."