//------------------------------// // 10. A Long Rest // Story: A Ghost of a Chance // by Epsilon-Delta //------------------------------// Not even a year ago, Zest didn’t even know what charcoal was. Embarrassingly in hindsight, she honestly thought you dug the stuff out of the ground, but no. It was made from wood. In a short time, she became an expert at making the stuff. One just had to get a big, metal drum and seal up the top with only a small hole in the lid. Put the wood in there, put that in a bigger barrel, and light another fire outside. Then that was that! Just a bunch of waiting for it to char. Zest became an expert on every facet of this art. She could name every type of tree around for miles and miles. She knew which were better for charcoal, which for pine tar, and which had other uses. Finally strong enough to chop wood with her ice blades and skilled enough to start a fire with flint, Zest spent most of her days making excessive amounts of this stuff. It was an easy job, all things considered, and she was rewarded with a ridiculous food store by the end of summer. The only problem was that hot metal had a disgusting smell to it. For that reason, they had to keep the charcoal production sight a good distance from the academy itself. Keeping a mound of dirt piled up around the barrels helped only to a small degree. That’s why Zest found herself on the far edge of their territory. Tonight’s batch of charcoal was all but certainly done, yet she found herself looking out into the vast and dark woods of Great Pines. Once more, she saw that boundary as absolute. She imagined herself as stronger than ever. Ghost Zest could likely beat up predead Zest from a year ago at this point. What was more, for the first time in her life she had all the skills needed to be self-sufficient. She could technically survive alone out there now. Yet sadly it wasn’t merely love for her new friends that kept her here. Despite all her hard work and everything she’d learned, only the reason she didn’t dare to leave had changed. Zest liked to think of herself as optimistic, but things really did feel hopeless recently. She escaped the cartel to find herself lost. She found a new home to find herself helpless. She became stronger to find herself under a curtain of threat. Where did it end? She wanted to get back and it was almost time to return Zest didn’t have nearly enough friends to stand firm as she looked out into the endless danger. She felt a shiver and remembered what it was like to feel cold for a moment. As far as she knew any minute– Something suddenly popped up out of the ground as if to challenge that very thought! Zest screamed and flew underground. She heard Indigo’s laughter and felt her aura unmasking itself a second later. “Hey!” Zest shouted at her. “I could feel you were scared about something.” Indigo smirked. “I thought I’d help out.” “Jumping out at me isn’t going to help that!” Zest snapped back. “You’re only going to make me more scared. “Of course it is! I switched out your bad, dread kinda fear for the fun, jump-scare kind!” Indigo booped her nose a little too hard. “Now come on! I actually heard something today!” Then Indigo rushed off. Zest rubbed her muzzle. She trembled slightly in leu of a heartbeat, but strangely Indigo’s trick (or whatever that was) worked. The adrenaline took priority over anything existential, allowing her to forget it all for a moment. Or maybe it was just their company. Being next to another ghost always drew your own feelings two steps towards theirs. Sugarcoat made her mellow out. Indigo warmed her metaphorical blood and gave her courage. Both counteracted the malaise she found herself in these past few days. Before leaving, she had her orbs grab onto the barrel of fresh charcoal and carry it back. It took only a few minutes to clean everything up. Zest bit her lip as she flew after Indigo. She hoped this didn’t mean she was dragging down the emotions of the rest of her fraid. When she returned to the storeroom in the boy’s dormitory, Indigo was already there, about to give the report she’d mentioned earlier to Sugarcoat. Indigo went into town three times a week to spy on the living. Obviously, she never came back with any interesting news because nothing ever happened in small towns like Maple Hill. They’d already spent this year’s worth of excitement on the wight. “Ah, there you are.” Indigo looked at Zest, then moved to lean on Sugarcoat’s shoulder. “Like I was saying! I heard stuff today. Word on the street is some weirdo’s been in town asking around about us.” “A weirdo?” Zest’s ears twitched. “What kind of weirdo? Like were they from the SA? Or was it a necromancer or–?” Zest stopped herself before making her final suggestion. The cartel couldn’t have possibly found her this fast, could they? “No idea! But the good news is nopony in town talked!” Indigo smiled. “It sounded like they didn’t appreciate that outsider trying to stir up trouble and told her to get out. Apparently, she left a few days ago in frustration.” Zest let out a sigh of relief. It was like Sugarcoat said, the ponies of Maple Hill really didn’t want to bother them if it could be avoided. “I don’t get why she wouldn’t have just walked over here if she wanted something.” Zest looked to Sugarcoat, always good for an explanation. “There are too many reasons.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “Perhaps, as an example, if she is with the SA and hoping to gain prestige by defeating a specter, then she wouldn’t want to risk attacking an unknown opponent. In that scenario, she would have retreated to find another mark she wouldn’t be rushing in blind against.” Zest nodded along with that explanation. That all made sense to her. “Of course, that’s only one possibility.” Sugarcoat looked back to Indigo. “Do you have a description?” “Green earth pony who was wearing some weird gear,” said Indigo. “All I got.” “Well if either of you notices such a pony, we’ll need to be careful,” said Sugarcoat. “But I wouldn’t worry about it too much just yet.” Zest had too much to worry about already! Part of her wanted to sleep, but– She looked at the dorm room where they kept their charcoal as she added the latest batch. The entire room was nearly filled by now. She figured the rate at which she ate fire meant this would be enough to last her, personally, for at least a couple years. Would being asleep for that time make much difference? “Hey. So like, how much charcoal would we need to sleep for twenty years?” Zest asked. She knew the more heat you absorbed, the longer you could sleep. “For just the three of us?” Sugarcoat looked at the room filled with charcoal. “Much more than this, I’m afraid. We’ve certainly gathered enough to take a long rest without getting low on supply, though. I was thinking it might be best for us to sleep for about three months.” “We’re gonna sleep for three months straight?” Zest blinked. Compared to decades, that sounded short but compared to anything she’d managed prior it seemed like an eternity. Since she’d first considered it, Zest bounced back and forth on whether sleeping for months at a time was a good thing. She’d think how terrible it’d be to skip over months of her life one minute. Then she’d imagine how great it’d be to take a vacation where you did nothing but sleep. “You need sleep to recover,” said Sugarcoat. “Now that you’ve gone through your therapy, you’re ready to take a long rest to help heal. I think it’s best that Indigo rest for a long time, too. Neither of you are fully recovered.” “I see.” Zest looked down at her hooves and smiled. “So when I wake up, I’ll have superpowers?” “You’ll be approaching normal strength,” said Sugarcoat. “Which I suppose is a super-power compared to what you’ve had so far. I imagine you’ll be ready to start using your elemental powers by then.” “Oh yeah!” Zest looked down at her forehooves, though a convenient crackle of lightning was not forthcoming this time. “I keep forgetting about that. It’s about time!” At least she had something to look forward to. “What’s it like sleeping for so long, though?” Zest asked. “It’s pretty nice!” Indigo came up and grabbed her from behind. “Think of it like an adventure! You’re getting to do something for the first time. And we’re going to have a huge feast beforehand, yeah? It’ll be great!” Yeah! Zest smiled again. Maybe it would be great. The thought of their upcoming feast and long rest did much to keep darker thoughts out of Zest’s head in the following months. The rest of summer faded fast until about the first of September when it suddenly slowed down. Sadly, they didn’t find any sunset runes on their meeting spots. The others said it might not be until the following year that more ghosts started retreating this far. After that, the day of their big feast was within striking distance and the nights felt longer. Zest could hardly remember the last time she’d looked forward to a holiday even half this much. Excitement the likes of which she hadn’t felt in years filled her during that last week. They spent a whole week getting ready for their feast, what would prove to be the biggest holiday of the year for them. In some senses, the holiday would last ninety days straight as that was how long they intended to sleep. But lots of sleep required lots of food. So they prepared dishes in advance. For the first week of September, they didn’t burn the corpses of the animals they froze but kept them ready. Zest spent hours making charcoal and drying out various plants. She chopped plenty of firewood and her senior ghosts showed her how to make mixtures of oils and dead plants for the big day. The work had been hard, but what followed was the best party Zest ever had. At any time, they had at least six fires burning. Inside they had one of charcoal and one of coal. Outside were the wood fires, one for cooking and the other two regularly doused with oils. A ghost could gorge herself all but indefinitely on heat, so Zest never got full. She could just eat and eat all day long without any concern. Nopony got stuck on kitchen duty as, when it came to ghost food, you needed only throw your pre-made dishes into the fire and let it burn. Indigo used some of the gunpowder to create a makeshift firework that let out a steady stream of sparks. You weren’t supposed to eat the actual fire burning at the center but try to catch and snuff out the sparks themselves as they flew. Their flavor was intense but came in short bursts. Zest would have compared it to the spiciest pepper she’d ever tried – only the flavor didn’t linger on her tongue. Its sting lasted but a second then vanished without a trace. It wasn’t filling, nor the tastiest, but catching sparks did make for a fun game. At one point, Indigo snuffed out thirty sparks at once and challenged Zest to do the same. Zest got a third that many and was left coughing and sputtering at the explosive sting of flavor. All the while Indigo laughed and laughed. They stayed up until the sun forced them to douse the fires outside and retreat in. Then they stayed up talking for a few more hours after that. Zest stayed up until ten in the morning – the latest she ever had as a ghost. By then she felt so tired that she no longer doubted her ability to sleep for three months straight. She could hardly keep her ghostly eyes open and finally, it was time for the three of them to go underground for bed. Yet even then it felt like their holiday was only half over. Compared to her old, pre-death life, eating was generally less pleasurable. You got those occasional moments of total bliss upon feeding off a pony’s blood, but those moments were few and far between. More typically, Zest ate the heat of charcoal or burning pine needles. Nothing short of a rabbit was as pleasing as candy or a nice burger. She had less variety in her diet, too. But sleeping? That was so much better as a ghost. Your consciousness dimmed, but never faded entirely. Never did you awaken to be surprised at the time. Despite sleeping for over a month straight, Zest never lost track of the days. She could feel the sun rising and setting above ground. She could smell a few, warm-blooded creatures wandering into their territory every few days. Her mind even buzzed once when yet another filly entered the school for her own test of courage. In her current state, her mind simply didn’t deem them worthy of attention. She felt the presence of her friends and even all the orbs they’d dragged underground with them at all times. Though they didn’t touch, she still felt like she was cuddled up in bed with the two of them and their dog, buried under a pile of plushies. Their calmness soothed her as well, making it easy to simply laze about and let time pass cozily by overhead. Imagine a winter where you get to be snug and comfortable in bed the entire time. No work or chores could get her down here. She didn’t have to shovel snow, worry about school, or even adjust a thermostat. Like a dream come true, she could just sleep soundly the whole way through. But of course, something interrupted it. She knew very well it was the 67th day of her 90-day hibernation when the best slumber of her life got disturbed. A predead entered their territory. At first, Zest thought nothing of it. Two had passed through here in the past month. She just let her nose and ears twitch. But the pony stayed longer than normal. After some time, Zest realized the stranger had stopped moving to simply stand around on the very edge of Sugarcoat’s aura. Then she smelled a strange source of heat – a type she’d yet to become familiar with. Yet the heat was hot enough that she feared it may have been a fire. Sugarcoat became worried about this turn of events as well. Zest felt her concern first, then she felt Sugarcoat stirring awake. Their fearless leader began urging the others awake with her aura too. Zest grumbled and tossed and turned. Then she awakened and rose above the ground as quickly as she’d fallen asleep. Indigo didn’t need to be told anything. As the phantom, scouting things out was her job. She glided across the ground towards the source of the disturbance. The others patiently waited a few minutes for her to return. “One predead.” Indigo came rising back out of the ground. Even now she yawned and stretched. “Green earth pony. Sound familiar.” Sugarcoat nodded. Zest kept her mouth shut, not wanting to admit she had no idea what they were talking about. “Maybe it’s not necessarily the same one,” said Indigo. “She’s waving an orange flag around, and she brought a whole cart filled with stuff.” “Stuff you say?” Zest asked. “It was under a tarp.” “She’s clearly trying to get our attention,” Sugarcoat concluded. “I suppose our visitor has something to say.” Zest shooped halfway underground. “You don’t think she’s trying to evict us, do you?” Zest asked. “Nah!” Indigo let her confidence reassure Zest. “If she wanted to fight, she wouldn’t have made herself this visible to us.” “There’s no telling what she brought, though,” said Sugarcoat. “I suppose we should go see, lest she be tempted to come any closer.” Sugarcoat allowed them a few more minutes to wake up before they began heading off to see this mysterious intruder. They stayed mostly underground, though on this cloudy night Zest doubted it was necessary. A ghost could see with perfect clarity on a night like this, but a predead would be blind. This was especially the case as this mare brought no source of illumination. Only shadows filled the forest, her flag the closest thing to a flame anywhere to be seen. A single earth pony, green with a purple mane in something close to a bowl cut, stood alone on the hill at the edge of their territory. The earth pony held in her mouth a garish flag which she continued to wave back and forth. Orange? Zest only just now remembered that color existed. It’d been so long since she’d seen anything orange that she was beginning to think ghosts simply couldn’t perceive it at all. This particular orange had the same look to it that ectoplasm did. It appeared like a deep hole in the world, with a light shining from far deep within. Beside her sat a cart filled with goods hidden away by a tarp. Yet the most striking aspect of this pony was the gear she wore. Zest first noticed her lack of clothing before anything else. It must have been freezing outside, but this pony wore nothing for warmth, appeared perfectly fine standing knee-deep in the snow with only her short fur for warmth. Her most odd accessory was the thickest pair of goggles Zest had ever seen. It looked more like she had a brick strapped to her face than anything else, the thing jutting out a few centimeters from her face. It needed three straps across her head just to stay in place. Yet the front of it was round and covered in a green-tinted glass. Zest had little idea if she could even see with that thing on her head. Finally, she had equipped two heavy bracers on either foreleg. These each had vents along the front and buttons on the side. What they did, Zest couldn’t possibly imagine. Though it was far too dark for a normal predead to see, and Zest had only the tip of her head above ground, this new pony noticed her immediately. She turned her head to look right at Zest. Maybe those were night-vision goggles she was wearing? The ghosts quickly fanned out to surround her on three sides as the predead slowly and carefully put her flag down. “Greetings, oh great one.” She bowed down to Sugarcoat before anypony else could get a word in. “I’m glad to see that the rumors of a specter here are true. It is an honor to stand before one of your kind.” Sugarcoat tilted her head, unused to this kind of reverence from a predead. She waited for elaboration. “My name is Sunny Flare if it pleases you.” Sunny Flare got back up but kept her head down in respect. “I wish you no harm. I come here with an offer for you.” Zest glanced over at Sugarcoat. This level of politeness and deference went a long way towards breaking through her icy exterior. Zest almost wondered if somepony primed this Flare pony on how to act. “My name is Sugarcoat and these are my vassals Zest and Indigo,” Sugarcoat relented and gestured to each of them in turn. “I suppose our fraid is called the Shadowbolts. You are aware of why it’s dangerous for our kinds to be friends, I hope. I wouldn’t want such a polite mare to waste her time on delusional thinking.” “I mean no disrespect when I say there isn’t any risk of me being frozen to death.” Flare stood and grabbed one of her cufflinks. “Or even of getting hypothermia.” “Arrogant!” Indigo’s frown flashed into a smile. “I like that!” Sugarcoat’s frown deepened. “And what manner of creature are you to make such a boast?” Sugarcoat looked down through the brim of her glasses. “I am a member of the Mad Science Institute or MSI as it is commonly known to us.” Flare stood resolute. Sugarcoat’s aura tensed, without a word, she communicated to the others to move. Indigo sank slightly below the ground, reappearing behind Flare. Zest flew to her right side and Sparky went to her left. The mad scientist found herself surrounded. Flare turned her head slightly to one side but showed little sign of fear. Zest kept her head down, unsure of how worried she should be. The Mad Science Institute had an infamous reputation. Locally, it stood in as a sort of boogeyman. Any odd occurrence that happened in Northern Equestria would half-jokingly be blamed on MSI. Unseasonal weather invariably met with jokes about MSI tinkering about with some odd device. Sightings of unusual creatures were MSI releasing their experiments into the wild. Ponies who went missing, or even just ran late, were said to be abducted by that same institute. Of course, these were simple jokes the vast majority of the time. More seriously, disasters caused by mad science in general dotted recent history. Though they most often kept to themselves, the Mad Science Institute was still a far off, dangerous, and forbidden place in Zest’s mind. Far up past even Crystal Vale laid The Far Reaches. This was the catch-all name for Equestria’s vast and frozen arctic territories, though they had little control over it. Zest imagined the look of confusion she’d get were she to tell the snow pony tribes of The Far Reaches that they were Equestrian citizens. Only the most southern tribes paid Equestria tribute. This was where the Mad Science Institute operated– surrounded by endless snow and wasteland. They created dangerous and unstable technology and bothered all those poor snow ponies and reindeer. The question wasn’t if they were bad, but to what degree. “As I’ve said,” Flare said with a bow of her head, “I have no intention of fighting you.” “Please!” Indigo called out to Sugarcoat. “I don’t think we should be making any deals with Toxco dogs!” Sugarcoat kept her eyes locked on Flare. Nothing about her aura suggested the danger had passed, but she raised her hoof, signaling Indigo to give Flare a chance to talk. She nodded in thanks before turning her neck to look at Indigo. “I was born years after Toxco was destroyed,” said Flare. “The Mad Science Institute was founded a year after the war ended and the majority of its founding members never worked for Toxco. I agree with you that Toxco was clearly in the wrong and that the mad scientists who worked for them were cowards blinded by greed. In MSI, we are taught as foals that the Toxco incident was a terrible misuse of our abilities.” Indigo kept her frown and glare but said nothing. Zest could feel her, still angry but without an argument against a pony who agreed with her. It was hard to tell if Flare was making eye contact with that strange visor on. She didn’t dare to lift a hoof. “But they still do bad stuff today, yeah?” Zest kept her ears down as she turned to Sugarcoat. She pointed to Flare. “Aren’t they the guys who build killer robots?” “Forgive me.” Flare bowed her head to Zest. “You’re thinking of the Mad Science League.” “But didn’t you just say–” Zest’s hoof faltered? “I’m with the Mad Science Institute.” Flare pointed at herself. “The Mad Science League are the ones who make robots. We have analytical engines but all our artificial general intelligence programs have been discontinued. The League is made up of ponies we kicked out specifically for the reason you mentioned. MSI is far more professional than those maniacs.” “Oh.” Zest brought her hoof down entirely, then raised it in accusation a moment later. “Then you’re the ones who stitch blanks back together to make flesh golems?” “That’s the Mad Science Association,” said Flare. “Then…” Zest tilted her head. “The giant monsters?” “The Mad Science Cartel are primarily responsible for those,” said Flare. “How many of these are there?!” “Four. Well, four that are worth mentioning.” “Okay.” Zest floated closer. “Then what does the Mad Science Institute make? Since apparently, your kind respects the ‘dibs’ system.” “The supernatural. The four sources,” said Flare. “Super radiation, the outer realm, witchcraft, and ghosts. This is the frontier that the Mad Science Institute primarily explores. We cast light on the darkest corners of Equestria.” “And what does the Mad Science Institute want with us?” Sugarcoat asked. “I suppose I’ll allow you to say that much.” “Knowledge is the only thing we ever want,” said Flare. “I listed those in the order of the attention they get from the Institute. Ghosts are the least supported field of study by far. It isn’t simply a problem with us, but there is sparingly little information on ghosts. There are perhaps four ghost researchers, besides me, in the entire world.” “You realize why there are so few ghost researchers?” Sugarcoat asked. “It’s because they die. It isn’t safe for you to come here and study us or whatever you have imagined. We can only resist our addictions for so long. You’ll die if you remain too long.” “She’s kinda right,” said Zest. She scratched at the back of her head, but it did nothing to help the addiction. “I got the urge to kill you right now. No offense. It’s not you, it’s me.” “And please don’t tell me you’re taking all the risk yourself,” Sugarcoat added. “Killing another pony is not some casual inconvenience on my end. I don’t despise predeads enough to simply shrug off such an event.” “Neither of us will be taking that risk,” Flare assured her. “This time is different.” “Oh?” Sugarcoat raised a brow. “Do you think this is the first time a pony said that? Do you think you’re different from every other predead who has failed? Or do you think we’re different from all the other ghosts? I can assure you the latter isn’t true.” “I understand what you’re saying and agree with the premise. I don’t think people can change. Technology, however, is a different matter.” Flare hit one of the mysterious buttons on her gauntlets. Vents opened and scolding hot steam shot out of both cuffs. Zest realized, a moment later, that the heat of the steam came from Flare herself. As the steam left the gauntlets, Flare’s body temperature plummeted to dangerous levels. Her body temperature dropped to near zero– to the point Zest could no longer pick up any scent from it. “See?” Flare let out a single breath, sending out an icy mist. “My body has been heavily modified by the institute. Right now my body temperature is about five degrees, and I can remain like this for months at a time.” She could feel the surprise of the others’ auras mirroring her own. Her ears twitched and Zest felt herself compelled to fly forward, to confirm this was even happening before allowing herself a proper reaction. Both Indigo and Zest sniffed around, testing her claim. Flare had gotten rid of nearly all her heat. It wasn’t even just her surface or some barrier of cold, but Flare had chilled even her blood. Zest’s ability to hear heartbeats and blood flow far surpassed that of any predead at this point. She didn’t need to get too close to tell that Flare’s circulatory system hadn’t shut down. Her heart rate had dropped considerably, to maybe thirty beats a minute, however. “You smell just like a blank.” Zest flew back, a hoof on her lip. “A dead body, I mean.” “Yeah. I’m not tempted to eat her at all.” Indigo turned to Zest. “How about you?” Zest shook her head. They looked back at Sugarcoat who repeated the gesture. Dead ponies were only tempting if they were still warm. Apparently, the same was true for predeads. All that drooling, hunger, and itching vanished with Flare’s body heat. “But there’s no way you’re five degrees!” Indigo tilted her head. “Your blood would freeze!” “She means five Celsius.” Zest rolled her eyes. “Sorry, she’s from the south. She doesn’t know how much a kilogram is.” “Hey! It’s like how much a pound is on the moon or something!” Indigo shot back. “And I can survive being frozen solid,” Sunny Flare added, extending a foreleg to the side. “I’ve seen my cells recover from as low as one-degree kelvin.” Zest gave her a blank stare. She didn’t know how much that was but didn’t want to ask after mocking Indigo about units a second ago. “That’s two hundred and seventy-two degrees below zero,” Flare mercifully explained. “Centigrade. It isn’t far from absolute zero.” That sounded ridiculously cold. Though then again, Zest didn’t know how cold her ice blades were. “It’s unlikely I’d live after being frozen that cold, but I know I can make it down to at least fifty kelvin. I’d lose consciousness at that temperature, but you’d need only leave me out in the sunlight to thaw and I would fully recover.” Then this was it! No way Zest would accidentally freeze something that deeply, not even if she lost all control. This random pony had just broken the system! In that moment, Zest felt as thought she’d retaken hope from the darkness. “This is incredible!” Zest flew much closer than she normally got to predeads. “I mean, you just solved the entire problem, didn’t you? With the thing you invented, predeads and ghosts can live together! We have to agree to help her!” “Please don’t get your hopes up.” Flare bowed her head and pawed at the air. “Gaining this ability required extensive surgery and body modifications– many of them dangerous. I doubt the number of ponies willing to go through with this extends far into double digits.” Flare put a hoof on her cufflinks. “Like you, I am ‘grafted’, I believe the phenomenon is called.” Flare tugged at them, and they didn’t budge. “These are attached to my body – directly to my bones and circulatory system. They can’t be removed any longer.” Why was everypony Zest met grafted? “I’ll admit this changes things,” Sugarcoat conceded. “However, I assume you have little knowledge of how this system you’d be relying on to survive works.” Sunny Flare shook her head. “I see you have some familiarity with how mad science works,” she said. “Yes. I couldn’t explain to you the exact workings of my new biology or how precisely I can survive such cold temperatures. It’s possible going through with this shortened my lifespan considerably. I simply have no idea.” “But you made it!” Zest complained. “How could you have created something if you don’t know how it works?” “That’s how mad science goes,” she said. “We do ‘dives’. We briefly enter the outer realm for a single second. The result is a sudden and immense burst of creativity, knowledge, and inspiration that lasts a few hours to a day. In that window, you’re indescribably prolific and can create technology far beyond what would otherwise be possible.” “Yes,” Sugarcoat continued for her. “But your ramblings and writing are incomprehensible for the duration, and you forget all of it afterward. That’s why it’s dangerously unstable and unreliable. It’s why Equestria has banned the use of any device created via mad science.” Zest watched Flare carefully for any sign of offense being taken. All she got was Flare’s unusually long pause before answering. “I believe such laws are an overreaction,” Flare finally said. “I’ve been around technology created with mad science my entire life. It’s hardly an issue more often than normal technology is.” “And your explanation for all the disasters caused by it in the past?” Sugarcoat asked. “Including by the Mad Science Institute specifically?” “Ponies only create dangerous technology after their eighth dive,” said Flare. “’On the eighth’, as the saying goes. That is, in fact, its origin. Each dive makes you more unstable. Ponies didn’t understand this but one generation ago, but we do now. We’re capable of using this technique more reliably and safely these days, now that the art is more mature. My own technology was created with my first three dives. There should be no problems with it.” “Should be. Are you sure you can rely on all this to protect you, even though nopony knows how it works or has ever used this before?” Sugarcoat asked. “I fully understood what I was doing when I created this technology and when I altered my biology.” Flare opened her forelegs wide. “I am willing to trust my past self, and I’m willing to trust this art that I’ve relied on my whole life.” Sugarcoat stared down Flare’s conviction for a long time with a stern smile. When it didn’t falter, she spoke again. “I’m curious now.” Sugarcoat finally came over, her forelegs folded. “Why are you so interested in our kind that you’d be willing to go through all this?” “This is the lowest extreme I can go to get what I want.” Flare hit another button on her device. “As to why? The honest answer is that nothing else excites me the same way. The net sum of scientific knowledge when it comes to ghosts can’t even fill a bookshelf. You are the most unknown and most unexplored corner of our world. Why would I want to go anywhere else?” Indigo nodded approvingly as Flare gave her reasoning. Finally, Flare won over a small smile from her. “I ain’t the science type,” said Indigo. “But I can sort of relate. I always felt the same way about the deepest caves.” Meanwhile, Sugarcoat kept her frown. “But I understand if it’s hard for you to believe I’m motivated by ideals alone.” Flare extended a foreleg towards Sugarcoat. “The potential benefits are innumerable. Nopony knows what, specifically, draws you to body heat. Imagine if I could find some way to bypass your addictions. Then there’s the fact that ponies who become ghosts can’t become zombies. My research could eventually lead to an end to the curse of undeath.” “That’d be exciting, wouldn’t it?” Zest turned to Sugarcoat. “This is a huge opportunity here! Even if it does take twenty years, opening a new field like this could change the world.” Sugarcoat closed her eyes and thought the matter over silently for a solid minute or two. She alone remained unconvinced at this point. Zest was about to urge her on when Flare played her next card. “I’m not asking you to help me for free,” said Sunny Flare. “I could give you money, if you want, though I know you haven’t many places to spend it. The institute is willing to manufacture goods for you. We can offer you technology that not even the Equestrian government would be able to provide.” Flare held up one hoof as though to ensure the ghosts she wasn’t about to try anything, then she slowly trotted back to her cart. At last, she pulled the tarp off from overtop it. Indigo and Zest both flew forward to look at what was on offer. Zest’s jaw dropped! She latched onto one item in specific– a large music cylinder player with attached bass and stereo! She thought she’d never get to hear any music but her own singing ever again! Looking over the cylinders, it became clear Flare had terrible taste in music. But she could likely request something better. At least that Zounds album was nowhere to be seen. Glancing left, she saw Indigo had become preoccupied with a film projector and a few reels. Indigo had already taken a strip of film out to inspect. “You got the negatives, too!” Indigo whistled. “Predeads never think about that kind of stuff. I’m actually kind of impressed.” “The negatives?” Zest scooted up against her. “Remember how our eyes work?” Indigo pointed at her own. “The black and white in movies are swapped so they don’t look normal unless you watch the negative reel.” Zest hadn’t even thought of that kind of stuff! Maybe this Sunny Flare pony wasn’t just a poser and actually knew a few things about ghosts already! The thought of getting to return to a more normal life filled Zest to the brim Then a dark realization took her smile away. “Ah, wait. But we don’t have any electricity to use this stuff.” Zest frowned at the record player. Indigo blinked, then slowly turned her eyes to Zest. “Huh?” Zest pointed at herself. “Oh, right! I’m electricity! I still haven’t done anything with that though! Give me a break!” “Well, this would give you something to practice on, at least!” Indigo laughed and hit her on the back. “I hadn’t accounted for one of you being a lightning elemental,” Flare admitted. “But I do have some other items that could be of use in powering them regardless.” She removed something akin to a large, metal brick from the cart next. Zest had paid this one no attention until now as she had no idea what it could possibly be. Attached to it via a wire was a device with a crank on it. “This is a lithium battery, capable of holding more energy than anything you’ll find in Equestria.” Flare placed her hoof on the large box. “I suppose your friend could charge it, or you could use this crank. If you agree to assist me, I’ll give you all of this today. We can discuss fair compensation for your continued assistance moving forward.” Zest’s head spun with all the luxuries of civilization she left with her worm-eaten body. An enormous wish-list formed in her head. She wondered how long it’d take to get it all. “I’m a little conflicted.” Indigo crossed her forelegs and tilted her head. “I don’t like that she’s only two degrees away from Toxco. But we could probably use her to secure the perimeter. I’d say give her a chance. But remember you’re on thin ice.” Zest hadn’t even considered that perk, but Indigo raised an excellent point. She didn’t understand Sugarcoat’s hesitancy at this point, but still felt her mentor’s apprehension. “I suppose the only other hold up is if we want the Mad Science institute to have any information,” Sugarcoat warned the others. “This research could eventually be used against us.” “I’m going to find a ghost who will say yes eventually,” said Flare. “You’ll only delay me a few days by saying no.” The three of them all shared a look. Without saying a word or using their auras they all thought of the worst-case scenario at once. What if Sunny Flare went to Crater Cemetery next? What if she shared her research with their enemy? Things were already hopeless enough on that front. Zest felt that alone was reason enough to accept the offer. She used her aura to silently share this thought with Sugarcoat. Sugarcoat brushed her aside, but Zest felt it was only because she’d already been convinced. “Very well. I’ll accept your offer under one more condition,” said Sugarcoat. “I want you to give us a carbon copy of all your research and every journal you keep on this issue. I’d also like a short summary of everything you’ve done on the subject until now and a report every few months.” Flare needed a moment to consider this addendum. After a pause, she nodded. “That would be acceptable,” said Flare. “We have a deal then?” “Yes.” Sugarcoat held her hoof out. Flare reached out to grab it, but of course passed through. “Thank you, great one.” Flare bowed to Sugarcoat once again. “I promise you won’t regret this.”