//------------------------------//
// Ski Trip and Ghost Stories 
// Story: A Medicine Cat among Ponies 
// by Kitsulestia 
//------------------------------//

*Rainbow Dash's POV*


Well, winter's about over here while there's one more week of winter in Neighpon. But then I got a call from Emerald, inviting me and my family to join them on their ski trip. I accepted it fully and told the others about it! They were more than happy to come along.

Azure asks "But don't you want to wait until Tank wakes up?"

"Yeah, but Tank was always patient with me and I know he'd want me to have fun with my friends and family." I responded.

A digging sound was heard since Tank was slowly waking up.

Tank soon emerged from the sand with a waking yawn.

Azure spoke "Hey Tank, buddy."

Tank nuzzled against us.

Bold was cuddling the tortoise.

Danyelle's cutie mark was glowing, as was my cutie mark and Azure's mark.

“Huh, we might be heading there sooner than we thought.” I noted.

Danyelle spoke "Doubt it."

Later, the three of us found ourselves at the mountains where Emerald was heading with the others.

Danyelle spoke "I’ve been wrong before."

Azure spoke "Last thing we need is a screaming cat..."

We looked up to see Emerald, Goryuu, Kaze and Kiko snowboarding in winter clothes.

Emerald spoke "Hahahaha! Yeah!"

Goryuu laughs "Awesome!"

Kaze spoke "Woohoo!"

Emerald spoke "*As Kiko giggled* Kaze, you and Kiko are pretty good!"

Kaze asks "Dude, you and Goryuu too! I’d this really your first time snowboarding?"

Emerald asks "Just gotta keep your balance, right?"

Kiko spoke "That’s right."

We then saw Karei and Seiko skiing.

Karei spoke "Sennnpaaaii! You’re too faaaast!"

Seiko stopped as he lifted his goggles before Karei slowed down with a few turns and curves and stopped at him.

Karei spoke "But that makes you cool!"

Miran was snowboarding as we saw Kanji and Sunao skiing.

Kanji spoke "You gotta open up your stance, do you get it? C’mon…"

Sunao’s legs were shaking.

Sunao spoke "It’s… It’s easier said… then… ahhh!!"

Sunao fell into Kanji, making him fall over with her.

Kanji gasps "Whoa! Damn, that hurt… *Blush* Huh?!"

Sunao stammers "*Blush while her skis were tangled with Kanji’s* Oh, so sorry- *As she collided with Kanji, making his whole head blush* Ahhh!? S-sorry…"

Kanji fell unconscious with a nosebleed as Heifa, Teddie, Shima and Kochuu skiing down, racing each other.

Teddie spoke "If I win, you owe me a double date!"

Shima laughs "You won’t win!"

Heifa spoke "Bring it!"

Kochuu laughs "This is getting fun!"

The four rushed as Teddie saw Seiko and Karei ahead of him before he jumped high into the air.

Teddie laughs "Yeeeeeehaaaaaw!"

That “Yeehaw” seemed to echo before Teddie crashed on the ground, becoming a huge snowball that rolled down the hill.

Teddie spoke "Owowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!"

Teddie rolled before he crashed into Kaze.

Kaze spoke "Argh! Gahaaaah!"

The huge snowball kept rolling with Teddie and Kaze until it crash at a lodge, the building undamaged with the snowball scattered and the two having their lower halves facing upward while their upper halves were under the snow before some snow fell on Teddie and a lot more fell on Kaze. Shima started having a laughing fit as some of the others, including the three of us, couldn’t help but laugh too.

Emerald spoke "Geez, you two… Hahahaha."

Rising Sun was on a snowboard as she shredded down the mountain while laughing, causing a snowy tsunami to cover me and Azure.

Danyelle obviously dodged the tsunami, laughing at the situation my husband and I were in.

Rising laughs "I have Emerald-chan to thank for inviting me out here!"

Emerald asks "Hey, even royalty needs a vacation, right?"

Rising spoke "I may be an earth pony but I'm beyond royalty, I'm a goddess."


*After some time later…*


“Now that was awesome!” I cheered after having snowboarded down a bunch of times.

Kaze spoke "Whew… We’ve been down this slope a bunch of times now! Hey Kiko, what do you think of my snowboarding skills? I bet you’re head over hooves with them!"

Kiko giggled.

Kanji spoke "Well, yeah, but only because we were falling down all the time. Teddie kept crashing into me…"

Teddie whines "It’s not fair that Kanji gets to keep skiing with Sunao. I’m completely against one-on-one personal lessons."

Kanji spoke "You were doing it on purpose, you bastard!"

Kaze spoke "I was talking to Kiko."

Heifa spoke "*Sigh* Here we go again."

Danyelle pelts Kanji and Teddie with snowballs.

Rising had a rather big blush on her face.

Rising spoke "Sh-shut up you stupid bear!"

“Uh, Rising? Teddie was talking about Sunao.” I pointed out.

Rising spoke "Tch."

“Remind me to roast Teddie’s butt for that misunderstanding.” Rising said to Danyelle and I as we both nodded in agreement at that.

Teddie's ass was soon on fire.

Teddie yelps "GAH!!! Hot hot hot hot hot!"

Shima asks "So this was your first time skiing, Sunao-kun? How was it?"

Sunao asks "I can barely stand upright. Kanji-kun is teaching me, but… It’s not going as I’d hoped. I keep going in the wrong direction or falling over without warning. I hope I do a little better tomorrow. You don’t look it, but you really don’t like losing, so you? Should we go up one more time?"

Karei spoke "Whaaaat!? I’m too tired. My legs are giving out on me."

Teddie soon dipped his butt into the snow, putting the fire out. “My fur’s all frozen, too. I feel like Frosty the Snowbear.”

Heifa spoke "But you’re my snowbear, Ted."

Kaze asks "We’ve got tomorrow, too, so let’s call it a day. Aren’t you hungry, Emerald?"

Emerald asks "I didn’t even notice it until now… I’m super-hungry! What are we having for dinner at the lodge?"

Shima: I think… sole cooked in non-regional style."

Kochuu asks "Interesting. Why’d you pick that?"

Shima spoke "That “non-regional” part caught my attention."

Sunao asks "So… it’s a non-style style? What is that supposed to taste like?"

Karei spoke "I think you would only call it something like that if you weren’t all that confident about your food."

Kaze spoke "I doubt the chefs would appreciate hearing that from you guys."

Karei spoke "That’s so mean! I remember you telling about how delicious that cake we made was!"

Kaze spoke "I wasn’t yelling! And that cake was only good because Kiko, Heifa and Sunao helped you!"

Karei spoke "That’s not true! It was thanks to the cookbook!"

Kaze spoke "I don’t care which it was! And you guys should’ve been using a cookbook in the first place!"

Emerald spoke "There’s something more important at hoof and claw right now!"

We were confused at that.

Emerald spoke "…Sole is a fish, right? What about some real meat? MEAT!"

Kaze asks "*Bead of sweat* How much of a carnivore are you…?"

Danyelle spoke "Cats are carnivorous by nature."

Azure spoke "That may be so Dany but what about us ponies? We don't have the right teeth to even eat meat!"

Shima spoke "Don’t worry, there is food for ponies on the menu. But I don’t think I saw any real meat dishes on the menu."

Emerald asks "No beef? Or pork!? Or even chicken!?"

Goryuu spoke "Oof, I could use some meat too."

Kanji spoke "Both of them have a point. Considering how much we’ve been skiing, I could use something with a lot of protein."

Danyelle spoke "I'll be right back."

Danyelle flew off somewhere before returning while dragging a dead deer by the antlers.

Danyelle spoke "Venison's a good choice for protein."

Kanji spoke "Whoa. Didn’t see that coming."

Danyelle spoke "I've never hunted before."

Emerald spoke "Pretty good for a first time."

Soon, we finished skiing/snowboarding for today and went back to the lodge. After dinner, most of us gathered at the lounge.

Kaze asks "Is Teddie still in the bathhouse?"

Kanji spoke "We saw these college girls while we were having dinner. He said he was gonna hold out in the bath until they showed up."

Kaze groans "Sheesh, what’s he up to now…?"

Emerald asks "You say that, but I bet you wish you were there with him right now, don’t you?"

Karei spoke "Whaaat? That’s the worst."

Kiko spoke "Calm down, girls. I’m sure Kaze wouldn’t do that."

Danyelle spoke "30 bits says the dumbass bear's gonna get his ass beat up by those girls."

Karei asks "*To Seiko* Wouldn’t you rather spend time with us? I mean, rather than creatures like that, Senpai?"

Seiko spoke "*Bead of sweat* Uh…"

Kaze spoke "Dude, how awesome is it that we all get to stay overnight like this? And it’s co-ed! So why don’t we-"

Shima spoke "*deadpan* No."

Kaze spoke "But I didn’t suggest anything yet!"

Shima asks "Sorry, were you going to say “play cards”?"

Karei spoke "Why don’t we go night skiing? I’ve always been impressed by creatures who can do that."

Emerald spoke "Then we’d have to take another bath afterwards. Honestly, I’m already exhausted from snowboarding all day."

Kanji asks "Then… Why don’t we do what creatures usually do when they get together at night?"

Shima spoke "Tell ghost stories!"

Danyelle spoke "I've got a scary one for you all!"

Danyelle grabs a flashlight before holding it under her chin after turning it on.

Danyelle spoke "There have been rumors that at moonhigh, you can hear the dying screams of a tabby Abyssinian that had been killed here long ago and if you're not careful, you might wet yourselves!"

Emerald asks "Gah! I don't know...! Isn't this usually a summer thing?"

Karei spoke "Yeah, um... I think I'll have to disagree too..."

Kaze asks "Huh? Could it be that you're actually scared of ghost stories?"

Karei spoke "Stuff like in those stories actually happens in the mountains! ...That one time during shooting was enough for me..."

Emerald spoke "Wh-What?! S-Stop it!"

Shima spoke "Oh, our inn has a lot of spooky stuff, too! Once, we asked a customer how he liked his room, and he said the restroom was too dark... But his room didn't have one! And sometimes, when you take pictures in that room during Obon, they don't come out right!"

Emerald spoke "Whoa, that's pretty creepy..."

Shima spoke "Oh, and I heard that haniwa are occasionally found in the mountains around here. They say this entire area could have been a grave site long ago..."

Sunao spoke "F-Folklore has little valid scientific evidence, but is a result of cultural significance and strong story elements... A-Any "ancient burial ground" is likely just the site of a t-temple, so, um..."

Kaze asks "You're scared too?"

Sunao spoke "*Embarrassed blush* Yes."

Kaze asks "This is starting to get pretty good! Seiko, how are you and scary stories?"

Seiko spoke "They're okay."

Miran spoke "Hehe, I love 'em."

Kaze asks "Oho! So... Either of you got any special stories of your own up your sleeve?"

Emerald spoke "I can't believe you guys! I'm having no part of this! I'm plugging my ears!"

Kanji asks "...Wouldn't it be scarier to only hear bits and pieces of stories like that?"

Karei spoke "Shut up, Moronji! Why are you pushing so hard for us to tell ghost stories!"

Kanji snaps "Will you stop calling me that, dammit!?"

Kaze spoke "...Well, since Danyelle started off, I'll go next, then. Yukiko can go last. Her stories are off-the-charts creepy."

I spoke "I got one!"

Kaze asks "Okay... Then I'm next. Cool?"

I spoke "Sure dude. Legend has it that a kitsunepony's husband had died in these very mountains and if you listen carefully, you can hear her howl as she calls out to her dead mate. Sometimes, you can hear her saying "Who killed my dear husband? Was it you?" right as a bolt of lightning lights up the night sky!"

A loud bang of thunder followed by the grief-stricken howl of a ghostly kitsunepony mare was heard.

Emerald and Karei screamed in fright.

Kaze spoke "Whoa... Alright, I'm up next. Let's see... It was over three years ago. A friend of mine in middle school told me this. It seems her sister went to a pretty prestigious private school, but she ended up running with the wrong crowd. Supposedly, she and a bunch of other girls were bullying another girl in their class. He said she'd come home every night and laugh over the compact with her friends about the kid they were harassing. One day, she suddenly came home with a pale face. Ever since then, she started locking herself up in her room. No matter how much he asked what was going on, she'd completely ignore him. But he could hear her mumbling... She'd keep saying to herself: "It's my turn next..." My friend got worried, so he went to ask his sister's friends what was going on. But it turns out... All her friends had passed out for mysterious reasons and had been taken to the hospital... He was so scared that he didn't know what to do. That night, at around 11:30... Suddenly his sister started screaming in her room! He ran into her room, and she was covering her ears and repeating, "She's calling me! I can hear her...!" But my friend couldn't hear anything, and soon, his sister rushed out of the house... ...The next morning, she was found unconscious outside the school gates, just like her friends had been. In the end, she was taken to the hospital and recovered, but when he asked the creatures at the school what happened... It seems the girl they were bullying... was dead. They said that the girl must've become a spirit that haunted them one by one..."

Whoa... Now that's a spine-chilling ghost story!

Emerald spoke "Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Shima spoke "Eeeek! Ahaha!"

Danyelle screams.

Azure was fluffed up in fear.

Danyelle stammers "G-good thing that pink cat's not here... She's total chicken shit when it comes to ghosts..."

Kiko spoke "Ooh! That sure was scary."

Sunao spoke "Th-That's impossible! Your story is full of inconsistencies! ...Wait, but I think I've actually read a police report like that..."

Karei spoke "That's not denying it! You're supporting it!"

Kaze asks "Wait, did she die...? I think she turned up okay... Well, that doesn't matter. That wasn't bad for a follow-up, right?"

I spoke "That was scarier than Blue's tragic tale!"

Kaze asks "Well, you're next, Seiko. What do you have in mind?"

Seiko spoke "Well... On a trip one night, just like this..."

Emerald asks "Y-You're gonna do this to us, too!?"

Seiko spoke "Anyway, there was a colt that saw a strange blue door, but fell unconscious after laying eyes on it..."

Kaze spoke "It sounds realistic when you tell it..."

Shima asks "So? So? And then?"

Seiko spoke "He then woke up in a blue room..."

Kaze spoke "C'mon, this isn't a ghost story anymore, isn't it? It's just a story about someone being kidnapped."

Seiko spoke "This is still a ghost story from how I heard it."

But then we heard something clatter.

Emerald stammers "Wh-Wh-What was that!?"

Karei spoke "I heard something! I heard something, just now!"

Sunao spoke "That was... unusual."

Kaze spoke "I-It's just our imaginations. Anyway, keep going! You can't just end it here! That'd be even scarier!"

All of a sudden, ghostly blue flames appear around us.

But for some reason, no one noticed them.

Seiko spoke "The colt saw a creepy draconequus with a looong nose..."

Goryuu spoke "Yeowza..."

Kanji spoke "Whoa, that's freaky... Something about a nose that long..."

But then the flames suddenly extinguished as the light suddenly went out.

Sunao cries "Waaaaaaaaah!"

Karei spoke "A-A blackout!"

Kochuu spoke "Something's not right here!"

Kanji spoke "Ahhh, shit! Something just went past me!"

Emerald whines "I told you I didn't want to do this! Why didn't you listen to me!?"

Karei spoke "Someone, get the lights back on! I can't take this anymore! Hurry!"

Kaze spoke "H-Hang on! Where's the switch..."

The lights came back on as Seiko returned from flipping the switch as we suddenly saw... Teddie eating the snacks?!

Teddie spoke *spooky voice* Hoooooow daaaaaare yooooouuuu... To think you're eating all the snacks while I'm gone... I'm gonna currrrrse yoooooouuuuu!"

...That's it.

Emerald asks "Get him?"

Karei spoke "Yeah, let's finish him off."

Sunao spoke "I'm sorry Teddie... Only creatures have equal rights."

Soon, all of us girls, except Shima and Heifa, surrounded Teddie.

Teddie asks "Wha... Babes! What's come over you!? Wh-Why're you so mad at me!?"

Kaze spoke "So it was Teddie... Dammit, he freaked us all out..."

Danyelle was up on the ceiling with her fur fully fluffed out.

But then Blue Flame appeared, angry at Teddie about something.

"And? And? What happened after that?" Shima asked Seiko, who had a bead of sweat at that.

It's official, no more Ghost Stories tonight.

Danyelle spoke "Wow Emmy, I had no idea you were chicken shit about ghost stories... Uh no offense Phantom."

Phantom spoke "None taken."

The colt had a white coat, black mane and purple eyes while the filly looked almost like her twin except for the blue eyes.

I asks "Who are these little cuties?"

Phantom spoke "My son Night Spirit and my daughter Misty Moon."

Danyelle spoke "They're so adorable!"

I spoke "I guess it'll be a few years before their ghost powers manifest."

Violet spoke "Yeah but Phantom and I know that the twins are quarter ghost."

Azure spoke "Don't be like that Emerald. For a pair of quarter ghosts, they are rather adorable right now."

Emerald was too busy kung-fu kicking Teddie.

Violet covers Night and Misty's eyes, shielding them from the violence.


end