Lesser Ghosts:
A. Orbs
[A1] Common orb
Greater orb
Accursed orb
Spider orb
[A5] Rumbling Orb
Prismatic Orb
Wisp
Will’o’wisp
Ball lightning
B. Amorphous:
Funnel ghost
Hungering cold
Stalking blight
[B4] Ectomold
C. Apparitions
D. Sprites:
Bogey
Bogle
Pixie
Kodama
Wraith
Hermit wraith
Blight wraith
Myling
Grimalkin
High Ghosts:
E. Harbingers
Banshee
Nightmare
[D3]Specter
F. Geists
[F1] Poltergeist
[F2] Schwarzgeist
G. Spirits
Hellion
Doppelganger
H. Shadows
Shade
Gloom
Umbrian
[ H4]Phantom
I. Proto-physical
Lemure
Valkyrie
Dullahan
J. Revenants
K. Elementals:
[K1] Water
[K2] Fire
[K3] Earth
[K4] Lightning
(Wind)
Proto-ghosts
Psychics
Ragamuffin
Demons
Ectoplasm
[A1]Common Orb
Just as a pony can leave behind more than one bone when they die, so too can they leave behind more than one orb. Some ponies do not produce any where some can produce as many as thirty. It appears being killed by magic generates the greatest number of orbs as it scatters the magic of the deceased needed to create the orb.
Unlike common depictions in art, a pony does not immediately expel an orb directly above them upon death. Instead, the magic dispelled from their body takes time to coalesce in the air before becoming a visible orb. It takes some two to five days for the resulting orbs to appear and they may be as far as ten miles from the corpse upon inception.
In fact, due to this method, it is possible to knock an orb out of a pony without actually killing them. In some cases of extreme magical injury, an orb has been measured as ‘spinning out’ while the pony still survived.
Orbs do not last forever, otherwise an enormous number of them would pollute the atmosphere. Without heat, an orb will rapidly become dimmer and harder to see before finally dying in a burst of light. Even orbs that consume heat will eventually meet with the same fate, albeit slower.
Common orbs can last some seventy years. The rarer sort last half that long at best, with a rumbling orb never making it past three years of existence.
[A5] Rumbling Orb:
The rumbling orb is easily spotted by its own namesake. They vibrate constantly, generating a low rumbling noise.
Though it is not known with complete certainty if a rumbling orb can be produced through a dying pony, the rumbling orb is a well-documented product of magical spells and energies.
The correlation between rumbling orbs and spells was know since antiquity, the ancients noting that many appear in the days following a large battle. However, they hypothesis was not confirmed until the eleventh century of the democratic era. The experimented provided reliable, though uneconomic, means of generating a rumbling orb on demand.
Rumbling orbs are unstable compared to other orbs, decaying within three years. They are not, as some may suggest, floating bombs waiting to go off. Though they can explode at any moment, it is rare for them to do so without a clear trigger.
Triggers can include useage of excessive magic, so use of magic should be avoided if a rumbling orb is present. Even pegasus flight has been known to set them off, though rarely. High ghosts can also command them to explode or move however they please, so treat them as a weapon if you are anywhere near a fraid.
A rumbling orb will contract shortly before exploding. If you see such a contraction, press yourself against the ground to mitigate any damage from debris.
Sugarcoat’s addendum: Rumbling orbs can be kept stable for a long time, so long as they remain in an aura. Usually a specter's aura is needed. The longer they remain kept, the larger the explosion will be when they go off.
We most often use them to expand cave. Rumbling orbs can go straight through solid obects, allowing you to insert them directly into the rock or cave wall you want to explode.
[B4]
[B4]Ectomold is commonly believed to be the result of decomposed orbs, but here I will argue that…
Sugarcoat’s notes: This entire section is almost entirely inaccurate speculation.
Ectoplasm is produced in a ghost’s mouth and is similar to saliva. It’s more of a waste product than anything else. The reason we ‘drool’ around predeads is that its building up to get expelled.
We don’t know exactly what ectoplasm is or does, other than that eating causes it to build up and you have to spit it out to absorb more heat. It slowly evaporates, cooling the area nearby, but you can find a significant amount of ectoplasm near a fraid.
‘Ectomold’ is the result of a condition some ghosts have. A few of us produce far too much ectoplasm and need to cough up huge amounts of it. We dig holes for them to vomit into a good distance away from our homes. When it fills up we cover the hole. But some comes seeping back up out of the ground nearby making it look as though it’s growing like mold.
I really have no idea how the predeads didn’t figure that one out by the time Ponin lived. They seem to understand at the time I’m writing this, however.
[C1]
As with ectoplasm, some debate exists over whether an apparition should be classified as a ghost. They have similar properties to other ghosts and are created in the wake of a pony’s death. However, they appear to have even less intelligence than an orb, already mentally on par with a plant.
Unlike other lesser ghosts, an apparition looks exactly like the pony who created them. Once created, the apparition will repeated the exact sequence of events shortly before death. Once the sequence is completed, they will vanish only to reappear at the start.
The delay between vanishing and repeating will grow until it is so infrequent that the apparition functionally no longer exists. Some debate exists as to whether they merely cease or, after the twentieth repeat, the apparition simply repeats only once every million years or so.
Either way, the apparition would be unobservable at the time when it does occur. The image becomes fainter and less detailed every time. Apparitions do not consume heat, nor anything else. Perhaps as a result their longevity is not great. One should expect an apparition to be effectively gone after a few months at best with only a few increasingly rare instances afterward.
Confounding the matter further is the fact that one does not need to die to create an apparition. Occasionally, when an injury places the pony close to death, an apparition will be created yet she will later survive. Invariably, the creation of an apparition from such an injury heralds that pony will develop psychic abilities. However, not every psychic will create an apparition of themselves.
Finally, apparitions do not possess auras, making their presence undetectable to other ghosts or psychics. As such, ghosts find no utility in them. They cannot be trained as pack animals like orbs or other lesser ghosts can. The sight of an apparition should not be taken as a clue other ghosts could be near by.
Sugarcoat’s addendum: Apparitions are more like rocks than anything else. We don’t consider them ghosts and they are useless to us. Scientists stopped classifying them as such a few decades ago, but they may change their minds about that again.
There is an interesting story about an apparition that Ponin didn’t live to see. They attempted to film the reemergence of one in Canterlot by filming the same spot for sixty years straight. After sixty years of waiting, it did reappear, but at the exact moment they were replacing the film.
The estimate for its next reappearance is set for 375 years from now. I suppose only then will it be confirmed if apparitions keep coming back for centuries.
[D3] Specter
The specter is the most terrifying and dangerous ghost of all. One will have little doubt they’re standing in the presence of a specter. Their lairs are ice cold and filled with ghosts both high and lesser. Anypony with even the least bit of psychic perception can feel them from miles away. But if you have any doubts as to which ghost is a specter, you can look for their tell-tale blue sclera.
I do not recommend fighting a specter under any circumstance. Even if you’re an extreme outlier in strength, it is often not worth it to engage. You should attempt to escape instead or negotiate if remotely possible.
A specter is created only when a mass death event kills at least one thousand ponies. Occasionally such an event will not create a specter, but it will never create more than one. The most hoffigying power a specter has is to recreate an ‘echo’ of the event, essentially summoning the very disaster that killed them to wreak havoc on the innocent.
Thankfully, if this echo kills more than a thousand ponies, it will not create a new specter.
The second terrifying ability they have is their enormous auras. This is the reason specters are surrounded by other ghosts and almost always the leader of any fraid. They often force other high ghosts to love and worship them, enslaving them to do their evil bidding and…
Sugarcoat’s addendum: “Often” is far too strong a word here. Specters who attempt to force other ghosts to love them do exist, but have limited success. Sending your servants off to do some errand for you becomes impossible, for example, because it necessitates them leaving your aura. Such specters tend to make far too many enemies too fast.
In reality, specters such as myself rarely exert our auras on our underlings. Less frequently than normal ghosts, even. Other ghosts come to us not because we draw them in, but to seek the protection of our auras. It becomes much more difficult to force your aura on another ghost when inside a specter’s aura.
To that end, its generally considered socially unacceptable for us to use our emotional influence on anypony, even our enemies save to leave them stunned. I generally only use mine for the sake of communication or else in emergencies.
[F1] Poltergeist
Poltergeists are a common form of ghost not associated with any method of death. They are not easily identified by appearance and appear nearly identical as they did in life.
Like all geists, they are distinguished by their ability to embody objects other than dolls. Poltergeists, specifically, can possess nearly any non-living objected object. They do not appear to have size limit, but they give up an equal measure of control for increased size.
While inside and object, that host becomes malleable in an unnatural way, twisting it out of shape. This can go as far as making fangs and a mouth appear on nearly any object. A poltergeists can turn the rests of a chair into arms and run about on its legs.
Once a poltergeists has left an object it will near instantaneously revert to its original shape. They cannot permanently alter the shape of any object. The snap back can be intense and dangerous. If a blade is bent out of shape, its reversion can hit an unaware pony with incredible force.
Sugarcoat’s addendum: Poltergeists can permanently alter the shape of an object. It merely takes a significant amount of time and energy to keep the new shape. I shouldn’t be surprised predeads don’t know this, as they’d rarely expend that kind of energy in a fight.
This is perhaps their most useful ability in a fraid. With little access to crafting equipment, forges, etc., poltergeists become the easiest way to twist scrap and trash into more useful forms. They are, in effect, the craftsponies of ghost society.
Though they are the most common, as Ponin said, they are not uniformly skilled. Without practice they cannot create fine, lasting, details. An artisan poltergeist is perhaps more useful than a fire elemental for forging metal. An unskilled fire elemental would be easier to find and better than an unskilled poltergeist, however.
[F2] Schwarzgeist:
Schwarzgeist are a common form of ghost not associated with any method of death. They are not easily identified by looks alone.
Poltergeists have the ability to posses nearly any non-living object and Schwarzgeist alone have the ability to possess living things.
Their ability to twist their host is not as great as the poltergeists. Possession of an animal may be limited to increasing the size of its claws or changing its teeth to fangs. They can cause a tree to twist about but appear unable to make its limbs become spiked, for example. Any manipulation of form will revert immediately after the ghost departs.
But the ability these wretched spooks are most feared for is their ability to possess ponies and other intelligent species. Only those with psychic powers are immune to this ability.
When a living pony is possessed, they will behave erratically. Both the ghost and the pony will be in control of the body and without cooperation they are left incapacitated.
If a schwarzgeist appears to be in total control of a pony, this is because that pony was not awake at the time of possession. This may be the case even if the ghost has their victim’s eyes open. You should first attempt to awaken the sleeper with loud noises, water, etc.
If they still do not regain control, then the pony was knocked unconscious before being possessed. The only way to expel the ghost without harming the host is with psycho waves produced by an expert psychic.
[ H4] Phantoms:
The phantom is believed to be the most common type of ghost. When encountering a fraid of ghosts, it is best to assume at least one phantom is present and hiding off to the side even when none is readily observable.
Being common, they are also the most well-known and many now reading can already state most of their characteristics. Though there are several common misconceptions I will not correct.
Phantoms are not permanently invisible but instead become invisible on will.
Psychics and other ghosts cannot see a phantom when they become invisible.
Phantoms do, in fact, have auras. They are merely faint and difficult for psychics to pick up on.
Phantoms are not always grafted into a cloak. This misconception comes from Royal Age artists choosing to use cloaks to designate their subject as a phantom.
There is no evidence to suggest a pony is more likely to become a phantom when dying a ‘lonely’ or ‘unseen’ death.
Detecting a phantom can be difficult even for a psychic. One can easily follow your group around for days at a time, waiting for the ideal time to kill you in your sleep. Your best means of locating a phantom is to wait for it to drop its guard. Even the strongest of them can only keep their aura suppressed for so long and will make occasional slips over long periods. If you feel the brief presence of a ghost, it is a good indication that a phantom is stalking you.
[K1] Water elementals:
Ponies who drown or are crushed by large waves may become water elementals. These are by far the most common type of elementals. They are easily identified by their perpetually wet manes and fur.
Water elementals can control water and are most dangerous in heavy rain or by large bodies of water. Of course, they rarely leave such places.
Water elementals appear to attract one another. Those who die in fresh waters perhaps follow the river out to sea where they meet in larger numbers. This effect can culminate into entire ghosts ships filled with spooks. Such a sight is rare, but formidable…
Sugarcoat’s addendum: We typically split water elementals into salt and freshwater ghosts. These two groups tend to dislike one another.
Those who die at sea are overwhelmingly sailors and pirates. As such, a certain surliness is found among them. They swear constantly and keep to themselves and their own kind. They hate staying in one place and wander the ocean floor with a new crew of fellow water elementals and an occasional straggler ghost of another kind.
I think there’s only been two authentic accounts of ghost ships in the past five hundred years, though. They prefer to conglomerate around sunken ships and stay deep underwater.
Ponies who die in fresh water are not typically sailors and are less inclined towards adventure. They’re often wood sprites, feeling a strange attachment to the lake or river they died in, rarely wishing to leave it.
Essentially, freshwater elementals feel the salts give them a bad reputation. The saltwater elementals see the fresh waters as a bunch of wusses and are quick to mock them. It’d be very rare for a fresh water to ‘follow the river out to sea’, if only because they want to avoid the ridicule of dead pirates and the like.
It’s not as easy to identify a water elemental as pony makes it sound. Ghosts can restyle their manes and water elementals typically tie up their manes and tales to make them look more normal. If you’re looking for a water elemental, you’re better off looking for buns and braids.
[K2] Fire elementals:
Ponies burnt to death may become fire elementals.
It’s a misconception to expect a fire elemental to appear as a pony made of flames. This is rarely the case. Instead, you should look for a pony who looks burnt, after a fashion. Their fur is most usually intact but their hair universally takes on a black color. Their eyes have a blackish sheen and they emit small amounts of smoke endlessly. They are some of the few ghosts with a scent, a smokey one.
The ability of fire elementals to create flames is limited beyond common expectation. They must consume heat to produce heat. They consume flames to be released later. As such, they can only produce so much flame before exhausting their supply. Their store isn’t great and once they run out, they a significantly reduced threat.
Instead, the greater threat comes from their ability to possess flames. Fire elementals can embody even a towering inferno. As living flames, they can move rapidly. They will attempt to spread and surround you. The more momentum they gain, the deadlier an advisory they become.
When engaged in combat with a fire elemental, you must not allow them to gain this initial foothold against you. Focus on defense, on stopping the spread of the fire, and they will quickly run out of stored flames.
If you do find yourself encountering a living inferno, remember to aim always for the base of the fire. The fire triangle…
Sugarcoat’s addendum: Ponin appears to think fire elementals store their fire in some kind of fire dimension? This really isn’t very accurate. Creating fire is simply one of the most exhausting things a ghost can do. Fire elementals get tired quickly when creating fire. They don’t ‘run out’ of it. One never assumes a fire elemental is ‘out of ammo’ as even a completely exhausted pony can find some last ounce of strength lying about somewhere.
Really, better advice against them in combat would be a warning against their ability to blind you. They can blind ghosts with bright flames and the living with excessive smoke. I’m surprised this isn’t mentioned anywhere.
[K3] Earth Elementals:
Earth elementals are not necessarily ponies crushed by rocks. Indeed, being poisoned by certain plants or killed by certain animals can also lead to the creation of an earth elemental. It is presently unknown the specifics and limitations of the creation of an earth elemental, but these constitute the majority of their genesis.
Earth elementals have only limited control over the earth itself, as plants tend to absorb the magic out of the ground. However, these spooks can manipulate the elemental magics absorbed into the living creatures themselves. They are both able to call animals to themselves and make plants rapidly grow and mutate.
The later is their more formidable ability, allowing them to rapidly produce toxic spores and flood an area.
Thankfully, the more intelligent the lifeform, the less control they can exert over it. Though they can control insects and reptiles to a certain degree, mammals and birds can only be commanded to the slightest degree. Ponies, especially pegasi, can hardly feel a tingle from an earth elemental’s effects.
One potential exception are reports of young earth ponies, due to their stronger connection with the earth, being lured out into the woods by a faint curiosity only to be killed by the earth elemental…
Sugarcoat’s addendum: Contrary to these claims, with the exception of psychics, a ghost’s aura cannot affect a living pony outside of intense waves of fear or anger. Even these are difficult for anything but a harbinger to produce. An earth elemental cannot make you ‘curious’ about anything.
It’s also not the case that earth ponies are more effected by them than pegasi. I suppose an earth pony could employ magic that uses earth elemental magic. It would be easy for an earth elemental to overpower them in this scenario but that’s as far as it goes.
I want to call such reports fear mongering, though I’m sure if an earth elemental could perform such a feat, they would have exploited it by now.
Earth elementals are most valued for their ability to provide food. Animals to eat will never be in short supply around one. Sadly, their ability to make plants grow is limited. A dramatic explosion of plant life is possible, but they will need days to recover and is not a reliable source of wood to burn. Nonethless, it is still useful in acquiring a wider variety of herbs for variety in the flavor of our fires.
[K4] Lightning Elemental:
Lightning elementals are perhaps the rarest form of ghost. When one considers the rarity with which ponies die of lightning, coupled with the aforementioned one in twenty thousand chance of an elemental being created upon death, it becomes easy to see the singularity of their inception.
A mere fifty ponies are killed by random lightning strikes each year, the majority of them pegasi. Added to this is another two thousand killed by various monsters, mages or pegasi capable of wielding lightning as a weapon. One may conclude that a lightning elemental is created, on average, perhaps once every ten years.
Other ghosts appear to place a high premium on their ability to generate electricity and will seize any opportunity to recruit them. If one does encounter a lightning elemental, it should be assumed that a host of additional ghosts are not far. Like the specter, they are seldom alone.
Fighting against a lightning elemental is not wholly dissimilar to facing a pegasus specialized in wielding lightning….
Sugarcoat's notes: Ponin’s calculations of the odds of how many exist are a far underestimation, due to this being written before much electrical infrastructure was built. This was also before ponies decided that electrocuting themselves was the best way to get psychic powers. A better estimate at the time of this writing is one every two years or so.
To the living, they may be a borderline mythical finding, but ghosts attract one another rather than repel. Among our own kind, they are a merely uncommon sight.
Lightning elementals are generally seen as good luck charms among ghosts. This stems from much older times when electricity was rare. Historically, this was the more common reason to recruit lightning elementals– as a living good luck charm. They’re still valued in modern times due to their ability to power electrical devices in remote locations.
Their hair can be easily made to stand up. Specifically, rubbing their heads until this happens is considered to give one good luck.
Ghosts who died from being struck by lightning are given the nickname of ‘royal flush’ or ‘flushes’ in general. They are considered to be a herald of astounding fortune. The problem, of course, is that every lightning elemental claims they died from being struck by lightning whereas most of them these days ‘bit the wire’. The nickname for this more common category is ‘dumb luck’.