//------------------------------// // Night 2: The Bunny Mare // Story: The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters // by JerryTheHouseGhost //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark Crusaders burned the piece of paper in the fireplace. Nopony saw Slender Stallion watching them from afar with a single tear rolling down his faceless face. "Okay Sweetie Belle, you've got to get the vacuum from your sister one way or another," said Scootaloo. "Fine, but I may not get out of this alive," responded Sweetie Belle. "Oh come on, Sweetie Belle! You've gotta try!" pleaded Applebloom. "We can't capture any ghosts without it! And we can't use anything else in it's place; you saw what happened with the sack!" "But we didn't even use the sack on a ghost!" "What's your point?" "My point is that we could try the sack again, and this time on an actual ghost." "Just get the vacuum, Sweetie Belle." "Okay, fine!" Sweetie Belle left her friends and walked to Carousel Boutique. Once she arrived outside of the house, she noticed that none of the lights were on inside. She thought this was strange because Rarity usually stays up later. Once at the door, Sweetie Belle attempted to open it, but found that it was locked. Strange, she thought. Luckily there was a spare key hidden in a secretive spot that is so secret that I can't even reveal it to you in a story. Sweetie Belle unlocked the door and walked in, turning on the main lights. After standing still to examine the room, Sweetie Belle went upstairs to Rarity's room. The door was open, which meant she wasn't there. Wait a minute, Rarity said something about a sleepover at Applejack's barn earlier today. Sweetie Belle went back downstairs to search for the vacuum. It didn't take her too long to find it. She turned off the light and left Carousel Boutique with the vacuum. She made sure to lock the door behind her like the good little filly she is. Sweetie Belle began walking to the meeting place, which happened to be the same tree stump as last time. She was happy to see that her friends were already there. "It took you long enough!" said Applebloom. "I'm surprised we aren't as old as Granny Smith because of how long you took!" "I only took a couple minutes! Besides, you two only had to get the flashlight!" argued Sweetie Belle. "Whatever, at least you have the vacuum. Let's go follow the treeline and find the tunnel," said Scootaloo. "Uh, which way do we go? Left or Right?" asked Applebloom. "Um... Left?" answered Scootaloo. "I thought you knew where to go, Applebloom!" said Sweetie Belle. "I only read that you have to go around Everfree Forest; there was no specific direction!" "Well, let's go with left, then," said Sweetie Belle. The Cutie Mark Crusaders began following the treeline of the Everfree Forest to the right. "Do you girls get the feeling that something is watching us? Like, from behind?" asked Applebloom. "No," replied Scootaloo. "Yeah, me neither." Sure enough, the three fillies saw a tunnel begin to be illuminated by the flashlight. "Haha! I knew it was to the left!" said Scootaloo. "But didn't we go right?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Uh... Shut up," said Scootaloo. The Cutie Mark Crusaders approached the tunnel. "Isn't the Bunny Mare supposed to come out if we get close to the tunnel?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Yeah," said Applebloom. "So, where is she?" "Should we try to talk with her to lure her out?" asked Scootaloo. "Good thinking, Scotaloo!" said Applebloom. "You go first." "Hey, Bunny Mare! Why don't you come out here and yell at us or something!?" "Y'all are trespassin'!" said a voice that came from the tunnel. Applebloom slowly turned her head towards Sweetie Belle. "Get that vacuum ready," said Applebloom. "Y'all are gonna get what's comin' to ya!" said the voice. "Come out of that tunnel! You coward!" yelled Scootaloo. A pony in a bunny costume ran out of the tunnel. "Which one o' y'all called me a coward!?" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom pointed at Scootaloo. "You orange filly! Y'all call me a coward again an' I'll get you!" "Sweetie Belle, turn on the vacuum!" whispered Scootaloo. "I don't want the Bunny Mare to get me!" "I'm trying to! I think the batteries are out of power!" said Sweetie Belle. "Great!" "Hold on, I have an idea!" Sweetie Belle threw the vacuum at the Bunny Mare, which hit it straight in the face. "Ow! Why would you do that!? What the hay was that!? A vacuum!? Who the hay carries a vacuum around outside and throws it at ponies!?" Sweetie Belle looked down. "Sorry..." "Sorry!? You three are trespassin', I tell you to leave, you throw a vacuum at my face, and all you say is 'sorry!?' " "But we're not trespassin'!" said Applebloom. "And you're just yellin' at us!" "Did y'all not read that sign!?" the Bunny Mare pointed to the left of the tunnel. Applebloom shined the light on a sign that was there. It read "Private Property: Trespassers Will Be Verbally Abused!" "Oooh.. Oops," said Sweetie Belle. "So will you three fillies please leave!?" "Yeah, we should get out of here," said Scootaloo. "Hold on, I need that vacuum back," said Sweetie Belle. She walked over to the vacuum, which was sitting right in front of the Bunny Mare. Once she picked it up, she looked up at the Bunny Mare's face. "Is your name Griffin Dougal?" asked Sweetie Belle. "What? No, my name is Hank," replied the pony in the bunny costume. "Hank!? I thought you were supposed to be the Bunny Mare!" said Applebloom. "Bunny Mare? What are you talking about?" "You're a ghost that wears a bunny costume and you yell at ponies for trespassing!" "No, the pony who hired me to enforce the "no trespassing" rule insisted that I wear this bunny costume." "Oh. Well then, I guess we'd better get going. Bye, Hank," said Scootaloo. "Bye, you three fillies who hit me with a vacuum," said Hank. The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked back to Ponyville. "Well, I'm not sure if this would be counted as a failure," said Scootaloo. "I mean, there was never even a "Bunny Mare" ghost." "Yeah, you're right," said Applebloom. "I guess we should all get some rest so we can get some good research in tomorrow." "Oh yeah, we still have that haunted hospital to investigate," remembered Sweetie Belle. "Well, good night," said Scootaloo. "Good night," said Sweetie Belle. "Good night," said Applebloom. "Good night," said Slender Stallion, too quietly so the three fillies didn't hear him. After realizing they didn't hear him, he shed another tear. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Author's Notes I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I certainly had a fun time writing it! Remember that I will only be writing three more chapters of this story using my own ideas. If you would like to see more chapters after those, you can leave suggestions for ghosts that the Cutie Mark Crusaders can hunt. If I choose your suggestion, I will give you credit at the start of the chapter. P.S. You deserve this song for reading this far.