After the incident at the concert hall, our heros decided to return to the university to compare notes (or as Dash had planned catch a buzz off the cider kept under her desk.) When they entered the hallway their office was on they noticed several assorted university staff carrying various pieces of equipment out of their office, they turned to see the Dean of Ponyville University, a dark orange mare with a blonde mane wearing a dark purple blazer over a white t-shirt, her neck covered with a light pink ascot and creme colored slacks over black and white spats, she was across the room looking down her muzzle at them with the usual "I'm so much better than you in every way" mixed in with "I'm angry at you for not being better than me" look.
Dean Harshwhinny continued this look until she felt the doctors souls had been scorched by hellfire sufficiently enough. Dr. Dash walked forward while the other two failed to even make eye contact. she adopted a completely emotionless expression knowing that the Dean was a allergic to any other type of conversation.
"I assume you're moving us to better quarters?" Dash asked in a stern tone.
"No Dr. Dash, im moving you off university grounds" Dean Harshwhinny said back in a similar tone, but her tone was spiked with much more venom.
"This is preposterous I demand a explanation" Dr.Dash retorted. "An explanation Dr.Dash? alright, your theories are laughable, your experiments are useless and teach us nothing, and you and your colleagues have no respect of higher education and this university simply cannot fund such ludicrous ideas any longer!" Harshwhinny then adopted a cold hard scowl "i expect all three of you to clear out of this facility immediately or ill have security escort you out!" she then grew a soft smile "Have a pleasant day, Dr. Dash, Dr. Sparkle, Dr. Doo" she said politely as she passed each one individually as she walked out the door, even recognizing that Doo was not present in the room but hid in a box of packing peanuts behind Sparkle.
"What are we gonna do!" Doo said with her wall-eyes full of desperation as she popped from her cardboard hiding place.
"We're going to do what she asked, come on girls pack your things, we're going into business for ourselves" Dash said reaching under her desk and pulling out a bottle covered in duct tape. "Well I'm packed up, see you girls outside."
The three mares sat on the massive stone staircase in front of the university. "What are we gonna do?" Doo said reiterating on her previous subject. "Sparkle didn't you and Doo go on about having the ability to capture ghosts? Dash said to Sparkle looking through the hysterical Dr.Doo. "Well its only theoretical, if the we could successfully polarize a positive stream of protons with the negative charge of a ghost and contain a spector in a positively charged containment unit, then we could really kick some flank, spiritually speaking of course". Sparkle answered "Great now all we have to do is find a place of business, develop the tech and get ourselves out their" Dash continued "But...where are we gonna get the money?" Doo asked Dash as she took a healthy drink from her bottle of cider. "I haven't the slightest clue" Dash answered with a grin as she lowered the bottle from her mouth.
The trio left through the front doors of the enormous pawn shop and walked together down the street."I can't believe you talked me into selling those uniforms Dash!" Doo managed to say through tears of hysteria.
"Relaxe Doo! I only pawned them! We'll get them back when our business takes off" Dash answered as she thumbed through the stack of dollar bits in a brown envelope "Those mail uniforms were in my family for generations!! You didn't even bargain with the guy" Doo shouted back "My Mother was a mail mare, My GrandMother was a mailmare,”
My.." Why weren't you a mailmare?" Sparkle asked. "I got confused when I signed up for my degree!" Doo said turning to Sparkle
"You didnt notice that you were studying physics for 7 years?" Sparkle returned confused.
"I thought they were just going in depth of the world around me, I thought it was necessary things for all mailmares to know! imagine how disappointed I was when they handed me a Doctrine for Theoretical Physics!" Doo said as they turned into the real estate office.
Sparkle and Dash stood in front of the real estate agent arms folded and looks of immense disapproval on their faces.
"So, what do you think? Is it what you three are looking for?" the light purple mare in a red blazer and light brown slacks asked.
"I think this place should be condemned" Sparkle started, her voice dripping with contempt. "The piping is leaking, the walls are infested with mold and a assortment of household pests, and the overall integrity for the foundation is horrifying",
"HEY GUYS!! isn't this place great?" Doo shouted descending the stairs of the broken down firehouse "We should stay tonight! you know! to..try it out!" Doo then scrambled up the stairs like a young filly.
The two sensible mares then turned to the agent with their poker faces shattered, "We'll.." Sparkle started then was immediately interrupted by Doo
"HEY! does this pole work?" The three mares on the bottom floor looked up to the fire pole in the corner of the room. Doo then grabbed onto the pole and started to slid down it "You guys gotta try this pole!" she shouted before hitting the floor with her butt which gave way and dropped her into the basement level in a blinding cloud of dust. "We'll *cough..take it" Sparkle sputtered with her lungs full of dust.
The C.E.O. of Sweet Apple Hard Cider ascended the staircase to her penthouse suite in one of the oldest buildings in ponyville. A Tall, well toned mare carrying a briefcase, wearing a wrinkled unbuttoned pantsuit with the tie loose and to make the outfit complete a brown stetson was perched on her head. Some would say the hat was tacky or out of place, if so Applejack would just say it sells cider by drawing a warm image to the company, but any member of her family knew the real reason. It was a family heirloom that belonged to her late parents, which one? No one could say, they both seemed to share it.
Applejack jiggled the key into the lock and forced the door open to a room filled with rundown furniture made from wicker and wood and handmade shelves covered in worn knick knacks. One would think that the C.E.O. of the company that quenched the thirst of every adult pony in equestria would be able to afford only the best new age chairs and sofas that were made from the best materials, and it is true, she could, however these chairs and chipped knick knacks were the only survivors of the rustic home she grew up in, but the home itself was long demolished many years ago to make way from the future. Every day Applejack longed for those years to return, every time she was giving a presentation to a group of investors she longed to go back to apple harvesting, which she only experienced as a small foal. The business life was killing her, True if her brother wouldn't of started this business with the through of commercializing the family cider then there's no telling what would've happened to the Apple family. But she didn't blame him, she blamed the ponies of ponyville. Applejack dropped her briefcase and looked through the large window in the main room of her apartment to the large city below. "Why did everything grow so big so fast?" Applejack whispered to herself.
Applejack walked through the swing door into the kitchen, she opened the old beaten refrigerator and pulled out a cardboard box. She hoisted the box onto the countertop and looked down to admire the little filly illustration, the Sweet Apple Acres Cidermare. A small cute chubby orange mare that was physically made of a bottle of cider she had a cute face with three freckles on each cheek and a bright red mare done up in Pigtails that covered most of the bottleneck and cork that made up most of her head, she wore a blue calico dress and was swinging on a swing in the box art. AppleJack always chuckled at that while she opened the box, lifted one of the six bottles and searched for a suitable cup.
While on in her search she noticed a slight fizzing noise, she lifted her head slowly from under the counter, she got wide eyed when she saw the cider in the bottle bubbling in the bottle as if someone was shaking it vigorously. then the cork shot up and foamy cider spilled everywhere. the fizzing noise continued as the corks from the bottles still in the box shot up and hit the ceiling. Applejack whipped her head around in search of a rag but stopped as she noticed the fridge. A bright light was shining from behind the door and a dark blue fog seeped into the room through the cracks of the fridge door, Applejack nervously lifted her hand to the door and quickly swung it open.
The door revealed a world surrounded in dark purple cloud, it may have been a desert if the dusty ground wasn't blue and glowing, in the center of Applejack's sight was a broken down old temple with a throne on top. And At the throne was a pony, but it looked wrong, it was blue and covered in small bits of light blue armour the pony stood up and shouted NUIM!!!,
Applejack slammed the door of the fridge and ran out the swinging door only to be tripped by a phone cord on the floor. After the fall the phone cord proceeded to wrap around her like a snake, as if it was possessed by a magic spell. Applejack wrestled with the cord as the ancient television turned itself on to a very cheesy looking ad.
A mare with a rainbow mane covered in elaborate looking equipment and a white coat jumped on screen and pointed at the camera and said "Are you troubled by ghosts in your own home?!" Then a purple mare in a similar outfit jumped on screen a yelled "Are YOU living with a spook or specter?!" Then a wall-eyed gray mare in a suit matching the ones of her colleagues jumped out and exclaimed "Have YOU of ANYONE you know seen a phantom, spirit or spook!? then call!" "GHOSTBUSTERS!" All three said in unison as their phone number and address flashed on the screen. Applejack had enough of the show and quickly overpowered the phone cord and forced it off her legs. She then scrambled up to her feet and bolted out the front door.
Sparkle walked through the the firehouse witnessing her and her two friends ambition come to life. Worker were replacing the drywall, repairing Doo's firepole mess, repainting the outside and lifting a sign above the front entrance. Sparkle sighed with peace of the clanking of tools when that peace was shattered when Sparkle heard the most ear shattering racket come from the end of the street. Both Sparkle and the collection of workers turned to see a broken cadillac hearse turn the corner and traveled down the street.
Sparkle though for a moment with amusement as to who would be dumb enough to ride around in a wreck like that, then it dawned on her as her amusement was shattered and she remembered exactly who would ride around in a wreck like that.
"Please no! Please no! Please no!" She said to herself with hope, but that hope like her amusement was shattered as the cadillac pulled up to the front entrance and a mismatched pair of eyes popped out from the drivers window.
"Isn't she great?!" Doo exclaimed as she got out of the broken down hearse,The fan belt squealing as the engine died and a puff of thick black smoke shot out on the engines last fire.
Sparkle looked down at the hearse with a bit of heartbreak but was not going to yell at her because her heirlooms where funding her business."How,much" She said slowly with her teeth clenched as she chewed back her anger.
"Only 4,800! dude didn't even know what he had! just a bit of engine work is all she needs, along with some transmission work,.... shocks, brakes, brake pads,..... lining, steering box, rear end, new rings, a bit of wiring" Doo continued to list all the other things wrong with the hopeless mess of a vehicle as Sparkle elected to go see how the rest of the business was starting. she walked up to their newest employee, a butter yellow pegasus with a long pink mane wearing an outfit that would look tacky on a old lady let alone the pretty young mare she was, a woven blouse and skirt made from a very old brown wool and a pair of emerald green spectacles sat very snug on her muzzle.
Sparkle picked up her application and adjusted her glasses and read the information."miss. shy, do you think you are capable of secretary work?" Sparkle asked in a professional tone. Fluttershy breathed a calm breath in a very nervous and very quiet voice she answered "yes" Sparkle didn't hear her but read her lips, her quiet nature lured Sparkle to ask her next question. "Will you be able to answer phones?" Sparkle asked in her previous tone. "Well i'll try" Fluttershy answered a bit louder than before. Sparkle asked "Are you good with answering phones?" Fluttershy said "OH no! i'm much too nervous usually." Sparkle then asked "If you can't talk on the phone how did you ever expect to find a job?" "Well usually I go by how small the ad is, and yours was the teeniest in the whole newspaper," Fluttershy held up her hand and spread her pointer finger and thumb an inch apart to show how small the ad was."It seemed to be the perfect job for me." Sparkle buried her face into hands and said "Well being the only applicant, you're hired." Fluttershy then shot up and sucked in a huge breath and said
"..... yay" in what was the quietest celebration sparkle had ever heard.
Applejack failed to remember the phone number of the place of remembered the address exactly, why? Well I guess you have selective memory when being attacked by a phone cord. The first thing she saw was a broken down old hearse with oil slowly flowing from under it, next to the hearse was a grey mare with unmatched eyes talking to herself,"oil filter, oil pump, lifters, cams, valves" the mare continued to name mechanical problems to herself as Applejack decided to see if anyone was inside. She saw a butter yellow mare setting up a secretary desk. "Hello? is this here the Ghostbuckers?" Applejack asked the butter yellow mare. The mare noticed Applejack and greeted her with a warm smile."Why yes it is miss, I’ll call down Dr.Sparkle and you can explain your ghost problems to her Okay? I'm Fluttershy by the way" Fluttershy said sweetly to Applejack and extending her hand to the mare. "Well that will suit me just fine!" Applejack said with relief, shaking Fluttershys hand.
"Well She is tell the truth, or she thinks she is" Sparkle said examining the array of machines that surrounded Applejack as she told the three scientist the events that transpired at her apartment. "A'course I"M telling the truth! why would someone lie like that?"
Applejack asked.
"Well miss,... Jack? *giggles* wackjobs that come off the street for one, but most just want attention" Dash answered "Well guys I think I should go check out the apartment and see if the ghosts left anything behind" Dash stated.
"I'll go down to city hall and check the archives maybe the building has a history of paranormal activity"Doo said "I'll check Trixie's spirit guide maybe get a better idea of what we're dealing with" Sparkle said as the trio silently agreed with each other and went their separate ways to complete their Tasks
Applejack and Dr.Dash both entered the suite and the first Dash noticed was the furniture. "UGH!! Okay missy your first problem is lack of a decorator or something cuz" She then turned to Applejack and pointed at the room with both hands from her sides and said "Damn."
Applejack was not amused at Dash's joke and made her expression clear on that matter. Dash paid no further mind to the furniture and began manipulating a small device slung over her shoulder, she removed a wand from the device and began silently walking around the room. Dash opened the door to the closet and waved her wand, then she moved onto the next door which happened to be the Bedroom. "Thats the bedroom, nothing ever happened in there" Applejack said.
"What a crying shame" Dash said sarcastically with a saucy smile. Applejack returned her look with a angry face that was failing to hide a blush blooming out from under it. Both mares then entered the kitchen, Both mares stepped around the massive left by the exploding bottles of cider. Then Dash walked up to the fridge and opened it and shockingly gasped at what it revealed.
"Look at this junk food!" Dash exclaimed as she swung the door fully open. "WHAT!?" Applejack yelled in confusion.
"YOU actually eat this stuff!??" Dash said holding up a pack of sandwich apple loaf.
"NO!! there was a desert!! and clouds!! and a temple!! and a monster yelled Nuim!!" Applejack yelled in hysterical confusion
"Well" Dash started "Whatever it is, its gone now"
All three scientist sat around a folding table covered in a cheap meal of buttered noodles back at Ghostbusters HQ.
"Well crazy or not she's the only customer we got, Gimme some of the start up money for Cab Fare I Better see her again tomorrow we don't wanna lose her" Dash Explained.
"This glorious feast, represents the last of the start up money" Sparkle said with defeat, jestering to the pitiful meal.
Dash slammed her head on the table in anguish. On the bottom floor, their secretary was contently reading a magazine on the nature of butterflies, she missed nature so much. At an early age she knew she was destined to help animals but ever since the city grew beyond her home, not many animals needed help in the city. She was forced to jump job from job all her life to find one that matched. But no job did anything for her but paid the bills. Fluttershy was reading a article on migration patterns on monarch butterflies hoping one day to afford to go to such places when the phone rang.
Fluttershy looked down at phone with fear, but knew she must overcome it to keep her job. "H..h *ahem Hello?" Fluttershy said nervously into the receiver "Huh? OOH! wait! i'll check" Fluttershy put her hand over the speak end of the receiver and shouted (rather quietly) "Uumm Miss Sparkle!"
"What?" Sparkle yelled without paying any mind.
"Are we serious?" Fluttershy asked.
Sparkle rolled her eyes "Yes Fluttershy we're serious."
Fluttershy returned to the receiver "Yes miss we are serious, Really? Okay Great!....We'll be right there" Fluttershy excitedly wrote down the address and yelled "We got one!!" Then slammed her hand down on the big red button in front of her.
All three mares were taken back in surprise as a sudden alarm rang through the old firehouse "We got one?" Dash asked lifting her head
"WE GOT ONE!" Doo exclaimed as she rushed over to the locker containing their gear, both mares still at the table looked at each other and blinked, then quickly followed suit.