//------------------------------//
// 4 - CMC Adventurers 
// Story: Ghost of the Everfree 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Sweetie was watching Dry as the others talked. "So how did you get here?"

Scootaloo twirled around. "That's a great question. Was it a rift or did somecreature cast a spell?"

Dry's ears danced atop his head before he composed himself. "My mother brought me."

Apple Bloom blinked softly. "On one hoof, aw, that's nice, bein' wit' yer mom an' all, but why here?"

"She did not say." Dry rubbed behind his head. "She said 'young ghosts need to spend time among the living to grow up properly'. I told her I was scared, but she insisted." He smiled a little nervously. "She can be very stubborn."

Scootaloo thumped herself on the chest. "Wow, yeah, I'm with you. My mom almost ruined my life." She rolled her eyes dramatically as if more annoyed than anything else, looking back at it.

Sweetie decided to cut off that line of thought where it was. "I'm sure she had her reason, but I have a hunch maybe she got lost."

Dry inclined his head at the idea. "Lost? She is far better at walking through the ether than I am."

Sweetie raised a hoof as she nodded. "Better doesn't mean perfect. She probably meant to drop you off in Everglow."

Apple Bloom snorted. "So?" The girls looked at her. "Seriously, c'mon. Everglow ain't that nice a place. Kinda excitin', sure, but nice, not so much." She leveled a hoof at Dry. "The way ah see it, ya lucked out!"

Scootaloo buzzed, hovering a brief moment before she hopped beside their newest... client? friend? Could be both! "And if you want to learn how to do magic, well, ya got three teachers here." She pointed at each of her partners. "Each with a different style to pick from."

"Don't be mad." He looked afraid of that, though fear was the standard. "But I haven't seen either of your magics. Aunt Echo was an alchemist." Dry looked to Apple Bloom. "It's... less scary."

Apple Bloom pointed to Sweetie. "Go on and show 'em!"

Sweetie tapped at her chin before she stood up fully, clearing her throat. "As a bard, I am a performer, a singer specifically in my case, but bards can perform in different ways." She tossed her head as she thought of the possible ways. "You could even be a storyteller, but I like singing." And so she did, filling the room with melodious notes.

As she did, she fixed Dry, eye to eye, and he felt something new and strange. Her music was uplifting him, but, more oddly and perhaps strange, he felt his usual fear abating, withdrawing away.

But then it stopped as she became quiet again, watching him with a bright smile. "Wow," he managed, trying to find himself. "Wow."

Scootaloo burst into a fit of laughter. "If you thought that was great, which it was, you still haven't seen anything yet!" She clopped a hoof down. "My magic's about fighting."

Dry withdrew a little away from that proclamation. "Fighting is dangerous."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Well, yeah? But not fighting can be even more dangerous at times." She looked across to Apple Bloom. "A monster hops out and tries to eat you, you fight, you run, or you get munched on."

"Running isn't a bad option," decided Dry with a nod. "Though having brave friends is nice."

Scootaloo came in close, almost touching. "You could be your own brave friend. You could take things that scare you and bam!" She punched the air all too close to Dry's face. "That'll show 'em not to mess with you."

Dry squeaked, falling over away from Scootaloo before he scrambled back upright, using Apple Bloom as a shield from the aggressive pegasus. "I'm not good at that."

Apple Bloom let out a little sigh, though her smile remained. "You're scaring him, Scoots. Dry, we're not here to force you. If you want to learn, we're right here, otherwise, don't worry 'bout it none."

And then a hug. Dry embraced Apple Bloom from behind, burying his face against her back. "You are just like Aunt Echo. So brave, but so nice. She was not a normal ghost pony."

Sweetie giggled at the display. "Because she was brave?"

"A little that." Dry wobbled a hoof, releasing Apple Bloom. "But more because she kept going to the living world. Alchemy--" He pointed at Apple Bloom. "--is not a normal job. You need a lot of living world things to do it. She didn't mind. She kept going back. She had a lot of living world friends." He smiled a little, thinking about her. "I do not think she will ever retire."

Apple Bloom turned to face the colt. "You already got some living world friends." She pointed to each of her friends, then herself. "Ah count three right here. What's a 'retire' anywho?"

Sweetie leaped at the chance. "To retire is when a pony quits their job, usually because they're old, to relax or sometimes find a different profession. Usually to relax."

Apple Bloom looked baffled at the idea. "Granny's all kindsa old, but ah don't think she's ever gonna quit."

Scootaloo nodded, but at Dry. "So your aunt's the same way. My aunts are super awesome too!"

Dry smiled at the warmth displayed. "Are all aunts so great?"

Sweetie rubbed behind her head. "Of that I am unsure. But it sounds like these three are. Dry?" He looked towards her. "Welcome. Whatever you want to learn, or even if you just want to be here. We're happy to meet you and lend a hoof."

Three hooves were projected at him, each with a smile attached. Dry was uncertain a moment before he reached one of his own to bump against the intersection of filly hooves, all uniting in the middle. "Thank you." He smiled, not scared in that moment, excited instead. He had found such lovely friends! "I should explain something."

Apple Bloom drew her hoof back, ears pricked at Dry. "'splain what?"

"How we work." Dry waved at himself. "We are expected to grow in the living world." He gestured broadly with a hoof. "To learn and get bigger. When we... If we... If we get wise enough... we can get into the ghost world, where the rest of us are, the ether." He wibbled both fore hooves in a ghostly like fashion. "And rejoin our people."

Sweetie slowly inclined her head. "Sure sounds like you need some magic then, unless ghost ponies can do it on their own?"

"I don't think so," he admitted, dancing in place. "If I do really good, and mom can find me, she might bring me a hook or a suit."

Scootaloo cocked a brow. "How does either of those help at all?"

He snapped at the air. "You hold the hook like this." Then he wrenched his head to the side. "To cut the barrier. To cut what's in the way, between here and there." He hopped, growing more excited as he spoke of the tools he did not have. "The suit's even better, lets you just slide in. Mom showed them to me, but she didn't give me one. She said I wasn't ready, had to grow first." He waved back over his slight form. "Still a colt."

Apple Bloom allowed her head to flop to the side a little. "Aw. We've all been there. Not big enough, they say. Not mature enough. Not enough, blah blah." She sprang to her hooves. "But you're in good company. An' so far ah see, yer a pretty amazin' pony already, and you'll jus' get better."

"Yeah!" eagerly agreed Scootaloo. "Now, you like hiding." She pointed to his cutie mark. "And that's all good and whatever... but I bet your real talent is something besides that."

Dry looked baffled at the idea. "Hiding is a very good talent."

"Sure sure." Scootaloo circled him. "And maybe it's involved. Like maybe you're a natural spy." She skulked like the imaginary spy she was. "Or a scout!" She dived behind cover that wasn't there, peeking around the imagined obstacle.

"Those both... They're kinda scary," he admitted in his unsure tone. "Is there a job that involves hiding and isn't scary?"

Sweetie suddenly smiled even wider than she had already been. "I know one." Both of the other girls looked to her. "He could be really good at watching animals, or birds. Being really quiet and staying out of sight is very important." She pointed at his cutie mark. "Like hiding in some bushes while keeping notes on what animals or birds go by and how they're doing."

Apple Bloom applied a hoof to her head. "Wow! That's a great idea! An' ah know just the pony that could help. You met her!"

"I did?" He worried his hooves together. "Did we get along?"

"Famously," assured AB as she went back for the door and pointed out at the home out of sight. "Fluttershy, the pegasus with the bear?"

"Oh her!" He would not easily forget the pegasus with a bear friend. "How would she help?"

Scootaloo snorted. "You met her. Didn't you see all the animals?"

"She did have a few," Dry admitted. "Is she a druid?"

Apple Bloom set a hoof against her head. "You are somethin' else. Don't know nothin' on some things, but know lots about other thin's. No offense or nothin'. She don't know no magic, 'cept her stare."

Scootaloo laughed at that. "Watch out fer that if you make her real mad."

Sweetie brushed aside her friends. "Don't pay them any mind. Fluttershy is the sweetest, nicest pony ever. And she loves animals. If you want to learn about how to watch them, I'd bet she's a good place to start."

"She seemed kind." Dry nodded at that. "But..." he trailed off, unsure look on his face. "Is it alright to ask her for help so quickly?"

Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "Ya got help from me like right after meetin' me and ah ain't mad. 'Sides, she likes animals, an' she likes when ponies like animals. " She nodded with all the confidence Dry lacked. "So if ya have animal questions, bet she'd do her best to lend a hoof."

"That does sound nice..." He joined her at the door, looking out towards the town, Fluttershy's house beyond it. "You'll come with me?"

Scootaloo suddenly charged, going right past both of them. "This is a case for Scoots! Hop on my scooter and I'll get us both there before you even realize we started moving." She was down the ramp with a giggle, hurrying for her ride. "C'mon!"

Apple Bloom shrugged softly. "She ain't wrong. Now, ah rode with Scoots before. It can be a bit scary, but she's a pro at this. Trust her, hold tight, and everythin' will be fine."

Dry started down the ramp, ears folded. "Are you... sure?" Scootaloo sure looked sure, perhaps overly much with a manic edge to her features as she impatiently waited for him. "It's alright if we don't get there too quickly."

"No such thing." She kicked the scooted, presenting the flat towards him. "Hop on up." When he got close enough, she slapped a helmet down on his head, his ears popping through slits at the top before falling back to their guarded stance. "I've done this ride a thousand times. We'll be there in a jiff."

"A jiff..." Not that he knew what a jiff was, but they'd be there in exactly one of those. He stepped up, reared up, forehooves hugging her from behind. "Please be careful."

"Careful is what daring ponies have to be," she assured as she kicked off the ground and began to buzz, her wings fluttering wildly against his front, propelling against the air and accelerating them all too rapidly. Wind began to rush around them as they powered down the hill with the help of gravity tossed in.

She was screaming, with the joy of speed.

He was also screaming, with far less joy involved.