//------------------------------//
// Story 
// Story: Foaled Again 
// by HowardHugheson 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville was not haunted.

Twilight had to keep repeating that to herself.

The day had started out so normal. "Heya Twi!" Pinkie Pie said as she entered the library, looking around at the books on the shelves.

Twilight smiled at her friend as she closed the door behind her. "Hi Pinkie Pie, what's up?"

"I need a really good cookbook!" Pinkie Pie said, peering at the books. "I want to make some really yummy cupcakes for the Nightmare Night celebration tomorrow!"

Twilight went over to Pinkie Pie, standing next to her and looking over the volumes. "Cupcakes huh?" she asked as she stepped forward to get a better look at the titles. "Let's see now, we have Celestia Cooks, Derpish Delights..."

"Twilight! Look out!"

Twilight blinked and was about to turn around to look at Pinkie Pie when she felt something hit her. "Ouch!" she said, rubbing her head with a hoof, one eye closed in momentary pain and annoyance.

Pinkie galloped over to her, frowning. "Twilight, did you see that?! That book fell down all by itself!"

Twilight frowned as she looked up at the bookshelf where the book fell from, then looked down at the book itself. Sure enough, a book had fallen from one of the upper bookshelves onto Twilight's head and now was laying in front of her.

"Don't be silly Pinkie Pie," Twilight said as she picked up the book using her magic, the book glowing slightly with a purple luminescence. "Spike probably just didn't put it back all the way and it fell over."

Pinkie Pie shook her head rapidly. "Nononono, Twi! No twitchy tail, see?" She looked behind her at her tail which was still.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she put the book back where it was among the other volumes of the top shelf. "As much as I'm sorta weirded out by the Pinkie Sense thing, not even that can be accurate 100 percent of the time." Then she looked back to Pinkie Pie, offering a gentle smile. "I'm sure it's..."

Pinkie Pie wasn't listening though, staring up at the book that Twilight had just put back, her eyes wide with fear. "T-Twilight..." she muttered. "WATCH OUT!"

Once again Twilight felt something fall and hit her head. "Ow!" Twilight said with a frown, turning around only to find the same book had fallen again, hitting her once more.

"Tw-Twilight," Pinkie Pie stuttered fearfully, "do you know what this means?!" Slowly she backed up a few steps.

Twilight sighed as she stared down at the book. "It means gravity's working," she mumbled annoyingly.

"No Twi!" Pinkie Pie said, looking around the room nervously. "It means the library's HAUNTED!"

Spike yawned as he rubbed his eyes, walking down the stairs. "Couldya keep it down?" he said drowsily, his tired eyes looking down at the two. "I didn't sleep well last night and am trying to take a na-aaAA!" Spike's sentence was abruptly cut short as he tripped and fell down the stairs.

Twilight jerked up and ran over to Spike who was now laying face-first at the bottom of the stairs. "Spike!" she said, frowning as she nudged the small dragon gently with her head. "Spike, you ok?"

Pinkie Pie cried as she ran over to the two. "It got Spike! Poor Spike, the first victim of... THE HAUNTING!"

Spike sat up, dazed, his eyes rolling in opposite directions. Then he shook his head rapidly, recovering from the fall, and looked up at Pinkie Pie, his eyes wide. "Did... did you say, HAUNTING?!"

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. "Pinkie Pie, this isn't funny," she said as she helped Spike up. "You're making a big deal out of sloppy shelving, that's all."

Pinkie Pie shook her head, then looked to Spike. "No, Spike, you gotta listen to me!"

Spike frowned, staring at Pinkie Pie. "Yeah?" he asked slowly.

Twilight rolled her eyes again.

"We were innocently looking over some cookbooks," Pinkie Pie said.

Spike frowned. "Y-Yeah?"

"When suddenly," Pinkie Pie whispered, "out of nowhere..."

Spike frowned even more, his eyes staring at Pinkie Pie nervously. "Y-Yeah?"

"A poltergeist picked up one of the books, and ATTACKED TWILIGHT!" Then Pinkie Pie ran over to the book which was still laying on the floor, and pointed at it with a hoof. "THIS VERY BOOK!"

Spike screamed and jumped behind Twilight, shivering. "IT'S HORRIBLE!" he cried.

Twilight sighed as she walked back over to the book, looking down at it. "What's horrible is you not putting the books back properly Spike, Twilight said, reading over the title. "You shouldn't be so clumsy when you..." she frowned. "...when you put... stuff... away."

Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight, noticing her speech slowing down. "What is it Twi?" she asked slowly.

Twilight read over the title one more time before looking back up at the spot where it had fallen from. "That's really strange," she said.

"What's really strange Twi?" Spike asked, walking forward, looking at the book curiously.

"Well," she said, looking back up at the shelf where the book once sat, "this is a foal's book."

"Y-Yeah?" Spike asked, his voice shaky again.

Twilight peered up at the other books. "What is a foal book doing in the biology section of the library?" she asked.

Pinkie Pie's legs wobbled for a moment, and then she fell over as though she had fainted.

Twilight rolled her eyes once more as she turned to face Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie," she said, "this doesn't mean anything."

"THIS MEANS EVERYTHING!" Pinkie Pie cried as she sat up again. "Foal ghosts are the creepiest ghosts! I mean, you know, you're reading a really scary story, and everything's ok until the creepy foals rise up out of some grass field, their eyes blank and lifeless, staring at you and singing..." then her voice became high-pitched as she sang slowly, "LA..LA..LA..LA!"

Spike squealed, accidentally letting out a small burst of fire from his mouth, then jumped back behind Twilight again, hiding and shivering.

Pinkie Pie cried, "Creepy little foals scare me!"

Twilight looked dumbfounded as she stared at Pinkie Pie, a brow raised. "Pinkie Pie," she said flatly, "you're starting to scare me."

Pinkie Pie shook her head rapidly as she backed up. "No, I'm sorry Twilight but, I gotta go!" Then she ran to the door, throwing it open.

Twilight frowned, taking a step forward and holding a hoof out to her. "Wait, Pinkie Pie," she said, "what about the cookbook?"

"Keep it!" Pinkie Pie said, shaking her head. "I don't want to risk the haunting rubbing off on my cupcakes!" Then she slammed the door and ran off.

Twilight sighed as she once again picked up the book using her magic, levitating it over to the foal section and putting it away. "The only thing that's haunted around here is Pinkie's brain."

Spike shivered as he looked around the library fearfully. "What if she's right Twi? I mean, Pinkie Pie's not one to scare easily!"

Twilight walked back to Spike, looking down at him with annoyance. "Spike, Pinkie's afraid of a lot of things. She's afraid of broccoli."

Spike stared up at Twilight with wide eyes. "Haunted... broccoli?!"

Twilight frowned. "Spike, no, I mean..." then she sighed. "Look, Nightmare Night's tomorrow and Pinkie's imagination is probably just getting the best of her." Then she pointed a hoof at Spike and said, "And you're letting it get to you too! Now stop with all of this silly haunted stuff and, next time, be more careful about where you sort books, alright?"

Spike glanced around the library nervously at first, but then calmed down, allowing Twilight's reassuring reasoning comfort his terrified mind. "Ok, Twilight," he said, looking up at the bookshelf behind him. "I... I guess you're right."

Twilight smiled. "See? Nothing to be afraid of. Now come on, Spike, let's go see if they need any help putting up decorations around town."

*****

As the others worked on putting up decorations for the festivities in the town square, Spike snuck off to Sugarcube Corner, walking slowly and keeping his head down, his eyes moving from side to side cautiously as he made sure that he was not being followed.

Slowly, he opened the door and peeked inside.

BAM! Something hit the door and Spike jumped, accidentally letting out another burst of fire from his moth in surprise. "Pinkie!" he yelled, now pushing through the door.

"SPIKE!" cried Pinkie Pie who jumped up and ran over to the small dragon, pushing both him and herself out of the store and slamming the door behind her. "Oh Spike it's HORRIBLE!" she continued to cry, hugging the surprised and shocked Spike.

"Pinkie Pie," Spike said, frowning as he was hugged, "what... what the heck is going on?!"

Pinkie Pie sniffed. "Spike, I was making cupcakes for the celebration tomorrow," she muttered, "when... when all of a sudden, a pie pan flew from the cupboard right at me! It's the HAUNTING! Spike it's the horrible lifeless foals! They want to GOBBLE UP MY SOUL!"

As Pinkie Pie continue to sob on Spike, he attempted to push her away. "C'mon, Pinkie," he said, frowning as he looked over her shoulder and at the door. "It can't really be that bad, can it?"

Spike moved passed her to the door, pushing it open a crack.

"SPIKE, NO!" Pinkie Pie cried as Spike peeked in to the store.

BAM!

Spike was pushed back from the door that suddenly slammed in his face, falling back on Pinkie Pie. It took him a moment to recover from the push, rubbing his head, then he blinked, staring up at the door. "Something... something slammed that door, Pinkie. Something slammed that door on me!"

Pinkie Pie's eyes widened in terror. "IT'S THE DEMON FOALS!"

Both the dragon and mare screamed, and darted off, heading back to the town square where Spike had come from.

Twilight smiled as stood on a stool, using the magic from her horn to tie a balloon to a lamp post. "There we go!" she smiled, admiring her work. "It'd be great if Princess Luna made an appearance again this year."

Then she perked up an ear as she heard screaming and shouting. "What?" she asked, looking around the square.

In the distance she could see Spike and Pinkie Pie both screaming and running directly at her. "Woah," she called, frowning as she balanced on the stool. "Spike! Pinkie Pie! Slow down!"

Spike and Pinkie Pie tried to skid to a halt, but they rammed into the stool, sending Twilight falling down on top of them. They all sat, dazed momentarily.

After shaking her head rapidly to overcome her short daze, she looked at both Spike and Pinkie angrily. "You two?" she asked. "This had better not be about the haunting stuff."

Pinkie nodded quickly, frowning. "Twi, it's terrible! Sugarcube Corner is haunted now! The lifeless spirits of the haunted foals left the library and are NOW INVADING SUGARCUBE CORNER!"

The screaming from Pinkie Pie caused the other ponies to stop and blink, looking over at the three.

Twilight smiled nervously at them and stood up, dusting herself off, then stared angrily at Pinkie. "Would you pipe down?" she asked. "Listen, there's no such thing as hauntings, lifeless spirits of haunted foals, poltergeists, this is all just your imagination!"

Spike stood up, frowning. "I saw it too Twi!" he said, glancing back towards Sugarcube Corner. "It tried to attack me!"

Twilight sighed and walked past them, toward Pinkie's home.

Spike and Pinkie Pie both slowly looked at each other, then followed after Twilight. "Where're you going Twilight?" asked Pinkie, frowning.

"I'm going to show the both of you how active your imaginations are," Twilight muttered as she continued to walk.

"No, Twi!" Spike said, running ahead of her then stopping in front of her, holding up his hands. "You can't! It's dangerous, I'm telling you!"

Twilight walked past him, saying, "The day Sugarcube Corners is dangerous is the day I pack up the library and go back to Canterlot."

Spike frown and ran again to catch up with Twilight, saying, "A-Alright, Twi... but I warned you."

When they reached Sugarcube Corner, Twilight walked up the stairs of the small porch and stood at the door. After a pause, she turned around to face them. "Alright, I'm going to show you, both of you, that there's no such thing..." then, using a hoof, she opened the door, looked into shop, and her eyes widened at what she saw. "...no such thing as hauntings," she whispered in a quiet voice as she stared at a frying pan floating in front of her.

Pinkie Pie screams and grabbed Spike again. "The haunting's gonna COOK US AND GOBBLE US UP!" she screamed.

"No," whispered Twilight as she cautiously walked into the shop, still staring at the floating pan. "This can't be... Ponyville's not haunted."

Just as she finished the sentence, the pan flew directly at her. Twilight ducked just in time as the pan hit the wall right above her head. "PONYVILLE'S HAUNTED!" she screamed as she made a run for the door, but tripped and hit the ground.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike and Pinkie Pie both screamed, running to her and helping her up.

"Twi, you alright?" Spike asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, shivering in fear. "I've got a feeling though that we're not going to be."

Pinkie Pie looked around the room slowly.

Spike held on to Twilight, shaking as Twilight looked around also, waiting for the next inanimate object to come flying at them.

Then they heard crying.

"THE HAUNTED FOAL!" Pinkie Pie screamed.

Twilight blinked, then pressed a hoof down on Pinkie Pie's head, shushing her.

The crying continued, and Pinkie Pie's ears perked up. "It's coming from the nursery!" she cried out.

All three of them jumped up and ran to the nursery. As they got to the door, they found Mrs. Cake rocking on her rocking chair, feeding a bottle to a very upset Pumpkin Cake. Mrs. Cake looked up from the foal, smiling to the three. "Well hello!" she said. "Sorry if Pumpkin disturbed you three from your baking for tomorrow's celebration. Her dad and Pound went to the town square to look at the decorations, and I stayed here to let Pumpkin take a nap."

Twilight looked surprised, frowning as she watched Mrs. Cake rock the baby foal back and fourth. "She was... napping?" Twilight asked.

Mrs. Cake nodded, smiling down at the foal in her lap. "Yup, she was so upset earlier. The magic has been a bit much for the poor dear. This morning she was bursting with it, as baby unicorns do, so I thought I'd just let her rest this afternoon."

Twilight blinked, and slowly she began to realize something. "This morning," Twilight said slowly, then looked to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, were you taking care of her this morning?"

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Always do every morning!" she said. "I take care of the foals so Mr. and Mrs. Cake can open the store!"

Twilight lightly pounded her head with a hoof. "THAT'S what happened!"

Pinkie Pie and Spike both blinked. "Huh?" they asked.

Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie, smiling. "Pinkie, baby unicorns exhibit bursts of magical power! Some residual magic must have gotten on you! That's why a book for foals was pulled off of the bookshelves and landed on me! It wasn't a haunting, the foal magic just naturally picked up a book that Pumpkin Cake would have wanted to read!"

Pinkie Pie blinked. "Then... there are no lifeless creepy haunted foals that stand in tall grass fields?" she asked, her eyes wide with amazement.

Twilight giggled and walked over to her, giving her a gentle and playful noogie on her head and said, "Only in your mind Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie blinked again, then grinned nervously, looking embarassed.

Twilight smiled as she sat at her desk in the library, a quill pen floating next to her, glowing slightly with a purple light as Twilight used her magic to begin writing her letter. 'Dear Princess Celestia', she wrote. 'Today I learned that some things aren't always as they seem.'

Spike watched her from the upstairs balcony, giggling lightly as he held the book for foals that fell on Twilight in one hand.

'It's not always nice to simply dismiss what your friends are telling you', she continued writing, 'and sometimes a good friend can help you figure things out when they seem especially scary'.

Spike grinned as he held out the book over Twilight, about to drop it on her, when suddenly...

"WHO!"

Spike screamed as he fell over the balcony and landed on Twilight, who caught him as though she were expecting him to fall. Spike looked at her fearfully, then up at the balcony where he saw Owlicious perched, staring down at him. "Who!" the owl said.

Twilight grinned and hugged Spike gently. "Happy Nightmare Night Spike!"

Spike looked embarrassed for a moment, then laughed and hugged Twilight back.