//------------------------------//
// CHOICE8 
// Story: Sweetie's Mansion 
// by Moon Shooter 
//------------------------------//

	She had to move. She had to move now.
With her hoof in the shape it was in, she had no chance of making it to the door, and she couldn't stay here. And the only thing she had around her were trees and fields of apples. As Applejack put her flank to her, Sweetie then got a good idea of what she was planning to do.
Take cover.
Without another thought to it, Sweetie bolted for the nearest pack of trees she could find. Applejack meanwhile bucked one of the apples at her at some impossible velocity.
"Yipes!" One of the apples flew just over Sweetie's head, grazing her horn and eventually hitting a wall. Not like a fruit however, but more like a rock as she heard it crash into the wall. Guess that answers whether or not I can afford getting hit by one of those things.
She then dove behind one of the trees and covered her head.
"That not gonna save ya!" Applejack laughed as she turned into a blur, bucking numerous apples at the tree at an impossible speed.
She was too strong.
Sweetie wasn't prepared enough.
How do I stop her! HOW DO I BEAT HER? Sweetie thought. Her levels of panic, helplessness, and fear were off the charts. The ghost mare was right, this tree wouldn't hold up forever. Considering the amount of force hitting the tree, and the sound of splitting wood, she didn't have much time. She was still alive now, but one way or another, she didn't have much time. She had to do something. But what? She didn't know how to beat her!
...but the book might.
The thought came to Sweetie's head like an epiphany. Of course! The book! It helped her with the mouse, so maybe it would help her beat Applejack! Sweetie quickly reached into her saddlebags for the ghost book. She rappidly as she flipped the pages, nearly making the mistake of ripping the pages out of the book. Finally, she reached the most recent page. A picture of the ghost Applejack was displayed on the page, bucking a tree.

Portrait of Honesty
Gender: Female
Desc: So you're taking on a portrait ghost already? Alright then, your funeral. To summarize, portrait ghosts are the most difficult ghosts to capture, given they usually have an immense amount of magic to suck out. They are the ones that can be put into a portrait, and brought back out as a living thing. Rather, they're the easiest to do so with considering how fresh the abstract magic on their spirit and more importantly the presence of their cutie mark. But I digress, on to the Portrait of Honesty. Some portrait ghosts, such as the Portrait of Honesty can't be affected by light. However, apples seem to effect her thanks to her apparent attachment to them. Try throwing a few at her if you can. One other thing is that she cannot tell a lie. Once again, as her name implies, if she consciously says something that is false, this will also have an effect on her. Perhaps even more than the apples. Your probably only going to get one shot at this, so I'd stay locked on that mare if you manage to get that magic barrier down. That's all I got for you. Good luck filly.
Main Weaknesses: Apples, Lying

Odd.
Sweetie was somewhat puzzled at how the book was written now. She was getting more and more the impression she was less reading an instruction manual or a hint book, but a letter. Even more, specifically for her. How was it-
Another barrage of apples took her from her train of thought. She didn't have time to consider the book's strangeness. She had her life to worry about. 
The apples. The apples were something, however she doubted she could fling them at her alone. Maybe she could use her GCD to fling apples at her? It was a vaccum cleaner so it could suck up apples. Could there also be a reverse function?Sweetie examined the nozzle further to see that it had a switch at the bottom of the nozzle. There was an arrow pointing down and there was an arrow pointing up. The switch was set to the arrow pointing down.
"Really hope this does what I think it does."
Sweetie activated the vacuum like device sucked up one of the many apples surrounding her. As she expected, the apple was too big to be sucked into the GCD, and just sat at the nozzle's end like an ice cream cone. She then flipped the switch. She then held her newfound weapon to her head to her head.
Please...Oh please Celestia... let this work... She thought. 
"Hahahahahahaha!" Applejack laughed. "C'mon ya big baby! Fight like a mare! Quit bein' such a scared little-"
Sweetie popped out of her cover for a split second, aiming, and hit the button, firing the apple at Applejack. It was a perfect head shot. Rather than phasing through her like she might have expected it to, it hit her head just like a normal apple would. It wasn't as fast as Applejack's apples, but it was enough to get the mare loose her focus. The apples stopped flying through the air at the tree, as they fell to the ground.
"Ow!" Applejack rubbed her head. "Why'd you hit me wit' that apple?"
"Uh..." Nothing. Nothing happened. No ding, no break. Just a really pissed looking Applejack. "A what?"
Sweetie tried again, sucking up one of the apples on the ground, switching, and shooting at Applejack. This time in her chest.
"Ow! Hey c'mon now! Quit that!"
You're trying to KILL me, what do you expect? Sweetie thought, vaguely annoyed. But her fear returned quickly as she discovered the only thing the apples were good for was stunning her. There had to be something else she could do. It was then, Sweetie got an idea. It was shaky, but it just might work. It wasn't as if she had any other plans anyway.
"U-uh... quit what?" Sweetie said, hiding the nozzle behind her back.
"Ya know darn well what, quit throwin them apples at me." Applejack complained.
Sweetie tilted her head to the side. "Huh? I didn't throw any apples at you."
Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Now don'tcha go on lyin to me Sweetie."
"I'm not lying. You're crazy. I wouldn't dare try to hit you."
"Ya just did! Ah saw you!"
"No you didn't." Sweetie said.
"Yes, ah did!" Applejack shot back.
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No you didn't."
"Yeah, ah did!"
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, ya did!"
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, ya did!"
"Yeah, I did."
"No ya didn't!"
ding
"Yeah I did"
"NO, ya didn't!"
ding
"Yes I did." Sweetie said.
"Ahm tellin you didn't hit me wit' that app-!" Applejack started, but stopped. What she heard next was what Sweetie hoped for.  "Ah hay."
Ding!
Sweetie leaped out of her cover, making sure to set the GCD back to suck as she did. Applejack tried to fly away, but she is then caught in the suction of the GCD.
"What the- No!" Applejack yelled.
 50, 49, 48, 47-
Applejack went crazy, trying to shake the filly off of her. She was now the terrified one, rather than Sweetie. As she yanked, Sweetie noticed how the numbers go faster.
"44, 43, 
--Remeber the yank--
yank, 4241403938, 37, 36-"
Sweetie noted this for any future captures. Perhaps she should do the same to decrease the time she has to be dragged around by whatever ghost she was trying to capture. In order to make sure she would be in the correct position to offer her own yanks, Sweetie pulled back on her to flip up so she could be dragged along the floor by her hind hooves, rather than her stomach. It was painful, but at the same time she felt more in control of the capture.
"25, 24, 23, 22, 21-"
Applejack started to get desperate. She started dragging the filly all around the room. She slammed the filly into several walls and trees. Between the intense shots of pain she got from her hoof upon every impact, she was constantly encouraged her to let go of the nozzle, and Applejack with it. Sweetie resisted that desire, holding on with every muscle in her small little hooves. She was too far now. She tried to keep the mare from moving so much, or herself from falling over on her stomach again. As the numbers went down closer and closer to zero, Applejack's screams became more high pitched and ghost like. Sweetie was so close, she was determined not to fail now.
"7, 6, 5, 4-"
Almost there. -- "3,"
Almost there. -- "2,"
Just one more. -- "1,"
Applejack lets out one last, high pitched, ear piercing scream.
"0. Magic depleted. Capturing ghost."
Sweetie expected, like the two times before, for the ghost to get sucked up, streaking into the nozzle. With Applejack however, a green lightning bolt stemmed from her. It went up to the little filly's body and started to fill her body with an electric shock. The muscle tension from the electricity allowed the filly to continue holding the button. Really, it forced her to now. 
Sweetie's eyes rolled back into her head as Applejack was forced into the GCD. After a minute of the pain of being electrocuted, Sweetie was allowed to let go of the nozzle. 
"Capture success. Ghost Capture Device at 50 percent capacity." the GCD said.
She wasn't sure what had just happened. After so much electricity had coursed through her body (she still was twitching a little), she couldn't believe she was still alive. 
"Oh." Maybe she thought too soon as her vision began to blur and her head began to feel like it was prepared to float off her body. She felt different, after the shock. What had that mare done to her? 
No, that was wrong. Something felt incorrect to blame Applejack for what just happened. What had the GCD done to her? She felt weak, as if she wanted to fall down and faint right there.
A peculiar light Sweetie was unable to identify illuminated the indoor garden, revealing every detail of the room. Suddenly, the vegetation that was previously withered begun to spring with life, changing the mood of the previously depressing room. It was almost as if a curse had been lifted off of that part of the mansion.
Sweetie looked down in front of her, only to see Applejack's hat, remaining from the specter that had just tried to murder her. Sweetie picked it up and placed it on her own head, not really thinking. Maybe it could be a temporary trophy for her efforts. 
From her position, she could vaguely see a hollow in the tree Applejack was bucking. She noticed how shiny it was, so she stumbled over there to investigate. Inside of the hollow is a small golden facial mirror. 
Through the blurred vision and mind, Sweetie remembered what Twilight said about mirrors and the mansion. She shuffled around in her saddlebag to retrieve the camera. She tried to take a picture of the mirror. At first, she missed, as her motor skills were still recovering from the electric shock. She tried again, this time, with better luck. 
Once she took the picture, the world suddenly started spinning around the filly. Sweetie's body was unable to handle the newly found vertigo, and started to feel weaker than ever. She lost consciousness, as she was hopefully taken back to the safe zone. She did however have one final thought as she closed her eyes.
Well... what do you know... I... did it...







[Continue]