Chapter Three: Eyes and ears
Silver Spoon screamed. "A poltergeist! That's a horrible spirit that throws things around and pulls mean tricks!"
Twilight tried to smile, saying, "Well, they don't always..."
Spike yelled "Duck!" as the blackboard eraser swung at the back of Twilight's head. She ducked, and it flew onward, hitting Silver Spoon in the nose. The filly coughed and sneezed, rubbing her muzzle.
"My looks! Ruined by that awful ghost!" She started to cry.
Cheerilee walked out from behind her desk. "Now, everypony, let's not get too upset! Why don't we go outside, and maybe Miss Sparkle can finish her lecture out there."
Twilight nodded, "That would be an excellent idea, Cheerilee! By the way, would you happen to-" The teacher gave her a blue kerchief. "Thank you." Twilight wiped the chalk dust off her face as they got all the little ponies lined up and out the door amidst a storm of chalk pieces and school papers.
Once everypony was outside, Spike showed up again, shielding himself with a book. "When I agreed to come along, I didn't think I'd have to be afraid of a paper cut!"
Finally the whole group was settled and organized, and Twilight could resume her lecture.
"Since most of you forgot your notes inside the classroom, I guess I feel better for forgetting mine, too." She gave them an embarrassed smile. "Now, one of the first lessons, the most basic principle for learning magic, is awareness. You have to feel the magic in your hooves, your horn, and your wings. Other creatures also have magic in them, and you can learn to feel that, too. Becoming aware of your inside starts with becoming aware of your outside. Does anypony remember what happened first when the poltergeist manifested?"
"Ah do! Ah do! It pulled mah tail, an' that hurt!"
"Good! Anypony else?"
Twist spoke up: "I heard somepony giggle next to me when we all laughed after that. It was right next to my ear, too!"
"Excellent! If you remember where you were sitting in relation to one another, we can find out things like how quickly it might be able to move."
Sweetie Belle broke in. "Or if there was more than one! I heard two strange voices laughing."
"Two? Are you sure?"
"I know what I heard!"
Snips looked horrified. "There's more than one? Oh, no, they're gonna take over the school!"
Snails also looked horrified. "Oh, no! No more school! Wait... Yaaay! No more school!"
"Yaaay!" everypony cheered, except for Cheerilee and Twilight Sparkle (who looked at each other).
"All right," said Cheerilee, "Now, who else can remember what happened, and if there was something they saw or heard that nopony else did?"
Hooves shot up all over, and everypony had an answer, but Twilight managed to shoot down the more outrageous ideas so they could focus on actual observations. Finally, they had a list of observations that everypony could agree on.
"All right. There were two voices laughing, and objects flying from two different directions. It seems we might have two poltergeists or other spirits playing pranks in the schoolhouse, and not one." Twilight had Spike write that down on a salvaged piece of paper.
"Now, the next principle after observation isn't always as much fun. It's information. I don't know a lot about poltergeists, but the library probably has a few books on ghosts and spirits. So the next step is research, finding out about spooks, haunts, and other scary things. Would anypony like to make a field trip to the library with me?"
Cheerilee stood up and interrupted. "Twilight, I know you're probably eager to finish your lesson, but it's almost lunch time, and most of our lunches are inside the school."
A dozen pairs of young eyes looked at her, and the whole group trembled in fear. "My lunch," cried Diamond Tiara.
"We're not far from the apple farm," suggested Applebloom. "Maybe we could get lunch there if we tol' mah sister Applejack 'bout the poultrygeist!"
"I don't want your common farmer apples, I want my lunch! It had grapes and bluebells in it!"
"Oh, quit your whining," said Scootaloo. "You can have some of my apples if you'll shut up about your lunch!"
Cheerilee smiled despite the attitude. "That's quite generous, Scootaloo, but let's go ask Applejack about lunch first, before we start sharing apples we don't have yet."