According to a rumor trending on social media, Canterlove Studios, the newly renovated Canterlogic, is haunted…
“Mwa ha ha ha ha…” a familiar laugh could be heard from inside of a dark room in Canterlove Studios one night.
A pegamouse that had secretly stayed behind after Pipp Petals and Hitch Trailblazer led his companions out with a song was crawling around the floor of the room before he reached a lantern. He examined it curiously for a second before it abruptly became lit, revealing a sight that caused him to squeak loudly and flee in terror…
…a ghostly pink tail…
“It’s not going to be mice and Sprout this time…” the one the laugh belonged to said forebodingly with enthusiasm, sounding like they were possessed. “Although I do know of a way to use Sprout… Mwa ha ha ha ha…AH HA HA HA HA!”
The following day, in the afternoon, something on social media was trending higher than the rumor of Canterlove Studios being haunted…
…#Where’dSheGo?, a reference to a popular song made by Pipp…
Sunny Starscout, Izzy Moonbow, Zipp Storm, Sparky, Hitch, and Misty Brightdawn were all sitting at a table near Sunny’s smoothie shack, watching a trending video on the front page of Trotter that had been marked with the popular hashtag. It was an edit of the music video for Pipp’s song, Where’d It Go?. In the edit, instead of Glory, Seashell, and Peach Fizz saying, “Where’d it go?”, they said, “Where’d she go?”, as they appeared beside a transparent Pipp. Viewing this led Zipp to growl impulsively.
“Ugh!” she grunted in frustration. “Why is the internet always like this?! Any time something serious is happening, it’s like all every pony cares about is how they can get clout from it! What if my sister’s in real trouble?!”
“Calm down, Zipp!” Sunny told her friend in an attempt to assuage her anger. “Lots of ponies look up to your sister. I’m sure they’re worried too.”
“Yeah,” interjected Hitch, “I’m not the most internet-savvy stallion out there, but I know enough about social media to know that this is the way of the cyber world. Some ponies do this kind of stuff because they selfishly want attention, but there are also ponies who post stuff they genuinely believe is spreading awareness for a cause.”
“Well, there are ways to spread awareness for a cause without downplaying the severity of a serious situation.” Zipp retorted. “Pipp is not just going to magically turn up because ponies are posting “funny meme videos” about her being missing. We should be putting our full efforts into investigating her disappearance! Unlike some of these ponies who have just been typing away on their phones, I’ve actually been working on trying to find out why she vanished!”
“Have you found any clues yet?” Hitch asked.
“No…” Zipp answered solemnly. “I just have a hunch based on some circumstantial evidence. When I last saw Pipp two days ago, she told me something interesting about this new batch of products she was working on. She said that she was working on something her fans would literally describe as “out of this world”. And then, the day after, rumors about Canterlove Studios being haunted started popping up all over the web. Isn’t that odd how right after she goes missing, talk of the supernatural, one of her biggest interests, trends?”
“You don’t think…” Misty said, acting surprised while talking strangely. “…That this could all be part of some elaborate prank by her?”
“It’s definitely a possibility.” Zipp suggested. “One that I hope is true too, considering it’s the best-case scenario I can think of at the moment.”
“What’s the worst-case scenario?” Izzy asked innocently.
“What do you think?” Zipp replied in a frustrated tone.
“Hmm…I’m not sure…” Izzy said while pondering, leading Zipp to grunt in annoyance and put a hoof to her face. “…Wait, it’s not her becoming a ghost, right?”
“Are you for real?” Zipp retorted, her irritation growing. “Of course it’s the worst-case scenario if my sister’s not alive!”
“But what if Pipp was a ghost and still alive?” Izzy asked, annoying Zipp even more. “Like, what if she found out how to do astral projection? It’s in unicorn folklore too, tales of curses and jinxes that can transform living ponies into ghosts without causing them to actually die…”
“Just shut up, Izzy!” Zipp shouted, slamming her hooves on the table. “No one cares about your stupid unicorn fairy tales!”
Izzy winced in response, looking rather hurt. Seeing this, Zipp breathed a sigh of disappointment in herself.
“I’m sorry…” she apologized despondently. “I’m just really stressed…I just really want to see my sister again…”
Izzy and Misty then shared a look of concern with each other, as if they were both making the same contemplation. They then looked at Sparky, who smiled and nodded…
“Zipp, there’s something we should tell you that I think might help your investigation.” Izzy said solemnly.
“Really?!” Zipp exclaimed, perking up. “Please, tell me!”
“Three days ago, I lent Pipp a book from Opaline’s library.” Misty explained with a tone of guilt in her voice. “When I found out that she was a paranormal enthusiast, I thought something I could do to make her happy was let her borrow one of Opaline’s books about spirits.”
Zipp gave the two unicorns a puzzled stare for a second before her countenance changed to an expression that made her seem like she had realized something.
“I think I know what’s going on here now…” she said ominously, shooting the two a suspecting glare.
“You do?” Misty replied nervously.
“Yes…” Zipp answered. “That book you gave Pipp must have gotten her so engrossed in the supernatural, she went on a ghost hunt without telling us!”
Izzy and Misty then breathed a sigh of relief that went unnoticed by Zipp, who was distracted from being enamored with her hypothesis.
“You really think Pipp would go on a ghost hunt for days without letting us know?” Sunny asked, surprised.
“You don’t know my sister like I do.” Zipp replied blankly. “When she gets wrapped up in her own little world, she really gets wrapped up. We should try looking for her in a place that’s said to be haunted. Given the buzz about Canterlove Studios lately, that would be a good place to start.”
“Um, “start” as in “start now”?” Misty chimed in nervously, confusing the others.
“…Yes.” Zipp answered suspiciously. “We “start” as in “start now”. Why would we wait?”
“I-it’s just that, u-um…u-uh…” Misty stammered, trying to quickly come up with something to say. “Ghost hunts are traditionally done at night, so it’s more likely we’ll find Pipp after sunset.”
“That may be true…” Zipp acknowledged despite her growing suspicion. “…However, what do we stand to lose by going to search for Pipp there now?”
“Um…” Misty said worriedly, unable to come up with an answer before Izzy intervened, exclaiming…
“Sunny will have to close up shop early! Plus, we all know how Canterlove Studios is still technically the property of Sprout and his family! If we go during the day, he might try and stop us from coming in!”
Izzy then nudged Misty slightly, leading her to begin writing a text on her phone under the table. The rest of her friends were so bemused by what she had said, they didn’t pay attention to Misty.
“With all due respect, Izzy, that makes no sense.” Hitch retorted. “Why would Sunny not close up shop early for the sake of finding a friend?”
“Yeah,” interjected Sunny, “I’d never put my job before my friends. And if Sprout tries to stop us, why should we care? We’re the ones who fixed that building up and opened it up to the community. It’s everyone’s building and he has no right to deny us access to it.”
“Are you two hiding something from us?” Zipp asked Izzy and Misty point-blank.
“What makes you say that?” Izzy replied, putting on an innocent smile after noticing that Misty had finished her text and sent it. “If you want us to go to Canterlove Studios now, we don’t have a problem with that. We just thought it would be a better idea to wait.”
“Yeah, going there now doesn’t inconvenience us in any way!” Misty proclaimed, trying her hardest to sound self-assured. “And I can assure you that it doesn’t inconvenience Pipp in any way either!”
Misty said this while smiling confidently with one eye partially closed and a hoof raised, leading Izzy to dejectedly sigh while all of her other friends gave her flabbergasted looks. Sparky then proceeded to facepalm.
“Yeah…” a perplexed Zipp remarked. “I’m sure that finding my sister will in no way inconvenience her, even if being found wasn’t part of her schedule today.”
“That’s the spirit!” Misty exclaimed jubilantly, not realizing that Zipp was being facetious.
Izzy then gave Misty another slight nudge, causing her to remember something.
“Oh wait…” Misty said as she realized something. “I mean, that’s not the spirit. I mean, I just meant to praise your attitude, not say that your sister was a spirit.”
Izzy put her front hooves on her forehead and sighed again.
“Even I’m not this socially awkward and clueless…” she thought wearily.
“Do you two know anything else about Pipp and spirits that you’d like to share with us?” Zipp asked them, wanting to confirm a thought.
Izzy and Misty then glanced at Sparky again, who was giving them a disappointed frown. He then made a gesture by pointing two fingers at his eyes before pointing those fingers at them. He and the two mares collectively nodded, something Hitch noticed.
“Hmm?” Hitch thought to himself, puzzled. “Why is Sparky nodding with them like he has the same understanding they do?”
“Yes.” Izzy answered Zipp honestly. “We’re not trying to keep secrets from you guys. You’re our friends.”
“It’s just that…” Misty chimed in, feeling anxious. “We know of some truths that ponies who are less acquainted with the supernatural than us aren’t ready to handle…”
The rest of the group was taken aback by this remark, especially Zipp, feeling a chill run down her spine.
“OH NO…” she thought, feeling deeply terrified.
Without even thinking twice, the words just came out of her mouth…
“Is Pipp okay…”
She then got up from her seat and slammed her hooves on the table even harder than she had done before as tears came out of her eyes.
“IS MY SISTER OKAY?!” she bellowed, deeply concerned.
“Calm down.” Izzy blankly replied, this time unphased by Zipp’s outburst. “Pipp is still with us. She awaits us at Canterlove Studios.”
“You knew she was there the whole time?!” Zipp cried in shock, astonishment that was shared by her, Sunny, and Hitch. “Why didn’t you tell us straight away?!”
“It was out of respect for Pipp’s wishes.” Misty answered bluntly, surprising the three even more. “She’s preparing a big surprise for not just us, but every pony in this world and beyond. Because Izzy and I have a powerful sixth sense, she couldn’t keep her supernatural discoveries secret from us, so she had to get us to promise not to spoil the fun for you guys or any other pony.”
“Wait,” interjected Sunny, “I’ve always known that Izzy has had the power to see another pony’s sparkle and talk to the spirits of her ancestors, but what about you, Misty?”
“The ability to sense the supernatural is a latent power we all possess…Opaline forced that power to awaken in me…” Misty explained with sadness in her voice. “The pain of learning what the ponies she’s hurt have had to endure…Pipp has learned that pain now too. And she wants to make sure no pony has to suffer that pain ever again. What worries me is that since she has just recently discovered her hidden spiritual ability, she’ll be especially susceptible to possession…”
“So you’ve known the dangers of this supernatural stuff from the beginning…” Zipp said with great ire emanating from her voice, recalling what Misty had told her about giving Pipp a book on spirits before slamming her hooves down on the table for a third time.
“How could you encourage her to get more entrenched in this stuff knowing that?!” she shouted.
“I wanted to redeem myself, okay?!” Misty yelled, getting up from where she sat and slamming her hooves on the table too. “I thought it would give her positive reinforcement! Help us defeat Opaline! But I guess I screwed up AGAIN!”
Zipp and Misty made direct eye contact for a while. Zipp could feel her anger abate as she looked into Misty’s eyes and realized how sad Misty was, having truly only meant the best. The two then both sat back down as Misty began to cry, covering her eyes with her front hooves. Sunny and Hitch empathized with her and put their hooves on her shoulders to show compassion.
“Misty…” Zipp said somberly. “I’m sorry I keep losing my cool…I just want to see my sister again…”
“You will.” Izzy told Zipp to comfort her as she gave Misty an affectionate stroke to comfort her as well. “Pipp anticipated this, us letting it slip that she now has supernatural powers like us. There’s a message she wanted us to give you in case this happened. This is that message…“Catch me if you can. It may not be easy, but it will give you the most spooktacular time of your lives. So long as you’re willing to accept the truths you need to face in order to solve the most spooktacular mystery ever, you’ll find a new fire.”.”
Something started to dawn on Zipp…something that lifted her from her state of despair…
“I think I get it now…” Zipp thought, feeling a renewed sense of optimism. “This is a challenge Pipp set up for us…she wants us to have fun learning what she’s discovered!”
“I’ve made up my mind…” Zipp said with resolve. “No more flipping out over this. I trust you guys no matter what. We’re all in this together as a team to find Pipp, right?”
Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, and Sparky smiled at Zipp before Misty started wiping the tears from her eyes. Feeling happier after hearing that Zipp still believed in her, she smiled too before she and the rest of the gang exclaimed…
“Right!”
“Then let’s head out!” Zipp proclaimed boldly. “To Canterlove Studios ASAP!”
As the group proceeded to depart for Canterlove Studios after Sunny closed up shop, Izzy and Misty looked out at the sky and saw that it would still be quite some time before sunset.
“Let’s hope he keeps us entertained long enough…” they collectively thought.
Meanwhile, at Canterlove Studios, a familiar red pony with blonde hair was smirking sinisterly outside the building. Inside the building, the one laughing in the dark room the night before was still in that room, holding a photo…
“She will certainly have the most difficult time confronting her truth…” the being with a ghostly pink tail remarked ominously. “But I know that you have the utmost confidence in her…the same way that I have the utmost confidence in my sister…”
The being then placed the photo by a pendant with a familiar symbol on it and an old, blue cloak…
“She’ll come to terms with the fact that I am now…”
Raising a hoof, a lantern below the being’s fire grew, revealing her to be…
“…Pipp the Poltergeist.”