Beyond the confines of that stuffy werewolf costume, I was still dressed in my favorite, comfortable attire. My face was completely exposed, and I proudly displayed my sharp tooth peeking out of my mouth as I donned a purple cape and a deep navy blue top hat with a purple band. From the roof of my haunted house, I laid sprawled out on my back atop said cape, my mint-green irises fixated on the vast expanse of the black night sky – and my half-white mask lying beside me. Here and there, a few stars shimmered like distant diamonds, tempting me to count a thorough tally. There was a serene silence up here, broken only by the occasional clops in the distance and the constant chirping of crickets. “Haah…” I sighed a breath of relief.
Beside me, my newfound partner and friend floated tenderly about three inches off the ceiling. An actual apparition. A ghost pony. Like me, she, too, looked up at the black night sky. And just in case, we had the white blanket ghost costume at the ready. “Hey, Hollow Shack. There’s something I’ve been wondering.”
Banafrit shot me a question, and I would always be open to answer. “Ask away.”
“With no prior knowledge of spirits and such, what’s the reason behind your self-proclaimed title, the 'Pony of Apparitions'? Even the building…”
“It… just sounded right.”
“Anything closely related to a pony’s purpose to get their cutie mark gives off a distinct feeling, right?”
“I’m not sure, maybe. The memory of the day my cutie mark was bestowed upon me by scaring my mother is a pleasure I will never forget. That spirit would always linger when I thought about doing it to another pony, and the next, and the next… Even planning how to was enough.”
“So then... do you think apparitions are a part of that?” she asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
I tore my eyes away from the black sky, with its occasional passing cloud, and shifted my head horizontally toward Banafrit. Following her dull-colored eyes, I couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness. Not because she was a transparent ghost. I shifted my gaze in the opposite direction, released a soft breath through my nose, and muttered a reply. “What are you saying, Banafrit? I’m Hollow Shack, the Pony of Apparitions. I think we both know the answer to that.”
Soon after, we both heard voices in the distance. “Look! A haunted house is over here.”
“You want to check it out, babe?”
“Yeah!”
“I’ll just knock on the door and see if anypony answers.”
Sounded like a grown mare and stallion. A couple at that. With a burst of passion, I grabbed my white half-mask and propelled myself into the air, my cape swirling in harmony. “Look’s like my cat will starve tonight.”
“…What?” Banafrit said with a blank expression.
“It’s Nightmare Night! We couldn't possibly close up shop when we have chance encounters like this. Since they’re adults, I’ll handle this on my own. However, if things go downhill, I’m depending on you to give our customers the scare of a lifetime.” I galloped down the roof and entered through the nearest window, leaving Banafrit behind. No need to worry about how she gets inside. She was a ghost, after all. She would phase through with no problems. “Once again, it’s showbiz time!”
I watched Hollow Shack leap through a window, his hoofsteps echoing loudly as he sprinted to the front of his store with urgency. “I’m just going to leave this ghost costume behind.”
Phasing through the roof to the first floor's ceiling, I was eager as Hollow Shack swung open the door, waved his cape, and welcomed the new customers. “The name’s Hollowwwww Shack! I’d like to welcome you to Baltimare’s Haunted House of Pony Apparitions!”
As the mare clopped her hooves together in engrossment, a sense of joy washed over me. I couldn’t help but smile.