Silver Spirit, Ghost of Equestria.

by Powerdrainer

What the Hay!

The three fillies ran through the streets of Ponyville, excited giggling coming from the three of them. 

At first Scootaloo wasn't all that happy with the prospect of spending the remainder of the day inside some stuffy library, but the idea that they might earn their Cutie Marks with this was really exciting. This caused her inner crusader to surge forward, as it did with her two friends, and together they ran towards another adventure, which, hopefully, didn't have them end up covered with tree sap. The fact that they were heading to the library, which was inside a tree, didn't really help there.

They dodged and weaved around and past the ponies in town, making some of them shout out at them as they almost dropped the objects they were carrying. But they didn't notice, too excited to do their thing. This was, however, also unfortunate for the town’s very own human resident, as he came to meet the girls again.

"Hi Danny!" Scootaloo shouted as she ran past him, almost tripping him.

"Sorry Danny," Sweetie Belle said next as she ran behind him, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards onto his rear.

"Bye Danny," Apple Bloom called out to him as she jumped over his legs, kicking up a bit of dust where she landed on the dry dirt path.

Groaning and rubbing his back as he pulled himself back up, Danny Manson shot the three fillies an annoyed look.

"That's the second time those three knocked me on the ground," he muttered as he dusted himself off.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell didn't notice though, as they moved through the streets and alleys, coming closer to their destination, and, perhaps, their destiny. 

"Come on you slowpokes," Scootaloo yelled back at her friends as she ran ahead of the group, her wings buzzing to give her just that much more speed. 

"Ain't you tha one that didn't wanna go to the library?' Apple Bloom yelled back.

"It's probably the whole racing thing that she has going on right now," Sweetie Belle replied, knowing all too well that her orange friend couldn't let any kind of race go without herself competing in it. 

"Nah. Ah think she just wants ta bury her muzzle in all those books," Apple Bloom shouted back with a teasing grin.

"HEY!" Scootaloo yelled back over her shoulder, glaring at her earth pony friend while running at top speed. Which made her miss the fact that she was running head first into the door of the very library they were going to.

With a slam and a crash she flattened against the door, sticking to its surface like a pancake. 

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came to a grinding halt behind their friend, struggling to contain their laughter as they saw the flattened pegasus grumbling to herself. And, of course, to make matters even more awkward for the speed demon, it was at this moment that Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's very own librarian and personal protege of Princess Celestia herself, opened the door to see what all the ruckus was about.

Blinking dumbly as she saw the awkwardly smiling pegasus stuck to the door, Twilight had to take a moment to let the situation sink in. Looking at the two other fillies standing before her, clearly having trouble keeping their composure over their friend’s unfortunate situation. Sighing out while shaking her head slightly, Twilight finally got a grasp on what was going on. The crusaders were at it again, and that often led to massive destruction all around.

"Girls," she began, a hint of suspicion in her voice. "What are you doing?"

Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie Belle, who in turn looked at Scootaloo. While the question was simple enough, the answer not so much. In their excitement they forgot to agree on an proper cover story, and they were sure that Twilight wouldn't let them do any "research" on manticores, ghosts, or manticores possessed by ghosts. They were already in enough trouble as it was, and asking Twilight about any of that would not be the best thing to do. That just left one question: what to tell the frowning purple mare who was waiting for an answer?

"Well... ehh. You see," Sweetie Belle started hesitantly, hoping her friends would help her out with this. "We came here to... To..."

"Ta find ah book... for an... assignment for school," Apple Bloom added after a momentary pause.

"Uhum," Twilight hummed as she raised a single eyebrow. "And why is Scootaloo stuck to my door?" she asked, before realizing what it was she said, and using her magic to pry the filly from the woodwork.

"Ehh... Because we—" Scootaloo began, but a look from her friends made her reconsider her words slightly. "I mean, I got a bit too carried away with all of this, and ran here as fast as I could," she said, struggling to keep from visibly shivering. "Seeing that I really wanted to find the book about that thing we needed to do." The struggle to keep a straight face became even more difficult as she could taste something very foul in her mouth, the words she spoke making her wings itch as to tell her that she needed to shut up and get away from this dull place as fast as possible. 

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were also struggling to keep their composure, but not because they were forced to say something like what their friend was saying. No, they had a difficult time because their friend was making such a poor attempt to sound sincere while saying such a ridiculous thing. 

Twilight, too, wasn't convinced. She looked at the three fillies with a flat, deadpanned look, before sighing and shaking her head.

"And what is it that you really want?"

"A book," Sweetie Belle said with a sigh, being truthful about this much.

"Really?" Twilight asked while blinking dumbly a few times. "Why?" She added with suspicion thick in her voice.

"Ta read about manticores." Apple Bloom answered, also truthfully, but not telling the entire truth.

"Why?" Twilight questioned again, beginning to sound like a broken record.

"...Because we want to know why it was behaving so weird," Scootaloo added slowly, choosing her words carefully, lest she give herself and her friends away.

"So, let me see if I get this right. You want to read a book about manticores to find out about certain behavior, and this after you almost got eaten by one last night," Twilight summed up.

"Ehh… Yes," Sweetie Belle answered with a large beaming smile.

Twilight looked at the three with a scrutinizing gaze, trying to read the three fillies like her books. But her skills in reading other ponies were somewhat lacking, and she wasn't all that sure what to make of these three.

"So, a book?" she said again, earning a confirming nod from the three fillies before her. "Just a book? No crazy scheme to earn your cutie marks?" This time the three shook their heads, albeit hesitantly. Noticing this Twilight had to make sure they wouldn't do anything they, or she would come to regret.

"Fine. But you have to promise me you’re not going to do anything that will get you in trouble. Especially after what you three did last night, understood?"

"Yes, Miss Twilight," Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said with nods and innocent smiles, halos hanging above their heads. The perfect image of innocence, and a major warning sign that they were up to no good. Which would probably mean trouble for the neighborhood.

Twilight, however, failed to pick up on this little warning sign, and she allowed the three fillies into her abode. Happy, though their reasons were a bit unclear, she was able to bestow the knowledge found in her library on these three young minds.

Still, she wasn't entirely oblivious as to what these three youngsters were capable of, and she was quick to ensure that they -as well as the town and everypony in it- would remain safe. Well, this time at least.

"Okay you three. Everything you want to know about manticores can be found in these books," she chirped happily, and levitated several books over to the three fillies, who were less than interested in these particular books. But they couldn't just outright say that they were looking for anything about ghosts. So, with fake smiles, they accepted the various books given to them by Twilight, hoping they would get a chance to find a book about what they really wanted to know.

Scootaloo's ears began to twitch, however. And their smiles became just a bit more forced, when Twilight started one of her lectures about manticores, and the danger they posed. Surely this was just a coincidence, right?

Frantic knocking sounded on the door, and Twilight hurried to see who it was that was trying to bring down her door, for the second time this day. Which prompted a sigh of relief from the three fillies, who had been subjected to one of Twilight's long and boring lectures for almost an hour now. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both shot a dirty look at Sweetie Belle, who smiled sheepishly back at them. None of this had gone as they had planned, as far as you could say they had a plan to begin with. 

Their ears twitched however, as they heard the all too familiar voice of Rainbow Dash. Ponyville's very own captain of the weather team, future Wonderbolt, the Element of Loyalty and, of course, the most awesome pony in all of Equestria, if Scootaloo was anypony to say so. Which she was, they agreed on that during the most recent Rainbow Dash fan club meeting.

"Twilight, you have to come, now!" Dash all but shouted. Confusion, excitement and even a bit of anger mixed in her voice. "There is something wrong with the lake! Somepony has been messing with the weather schedule, and everything is frozen. You have to come!"

"What- What do you mean?" Twilight asked confused, not understanding the rambling of her friend.

"No time to explain. Just come on." And with that, Rainbow grabbed hold of Twilight and flew towards the lake, leaving the three young fillies alone in the library.

Looking at the door, not fully realizing what had just happened, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo just sat in their places, blinking dumbly. 

"She's gone, isn't she?" Apple Bloom asked after a moment.

"I guess," Sweetie Belle replied after a few short seconds.

"So, we don’t need to read these boring things?" Scootaloo asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

"Ah think so," Apple Bloom said, and she felt her excitement grow.

"We can finally find out about ghosts and such," Sweetie Belle said excitedly, bouncing slightly on the spot.

"And find out how to earn our Cutie Marks," Scootaloo added, wings flapping happily.

The three of them looked at each other, and with a nod they agreed on their next course of action.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Book Finders. Yay!"

Whooping and cheering they began running around the bookcases, looking for anything that would be of interest. They looked and looked, but anything related to ghosts ended up being either ghost stories for foals, or those strange novels adults liked so much.

"Over here!" Scootaloo shouted excitedly as she held up a book with a scary ghost image on the cover.

"Scoots, that's just a book with ghosts stories," Sweetie Belle said, and Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right. I knew that."

"Just try to look somewhere else. Obviously Twilight doesn't keep those books here," Sweetie Belle told the other two, who nodded in understanding.

Apple Bloom ran to one side of the library, looking through the books there. She didn't find anything that was of any interest to her, but some of the things there might be useful for other crusading attempts, and she kept them in mind for later. She did, however, find a lock of curly pink hair that smelled a lot like cotton candy behind some of the books. Though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how or why a lock of Pinkie Pie's mane was lying there.

Scootaloo also hadn't much luck. From the various books with ghost stories for sleepovers or camping trips- which appeared to be read thoroughly- to books about cooking, which looked brand new. But nothing about actual ghosts, or how to catch them. There was, however, a spell book lying open on the table, the exposed page showing a spell to turn an apple into an orange. Twilight was probably working with that, so Scootaloo decided to leave that where it was.

Sweetie Belle wasn't doing much better, and she started to think that there wasn't anything here that would help them. She was about to give up and call her friends to figure out what to do next, when a curious green glint caught her attention, leading her to the door to the basement. It was standing slightly ajar, and a sudden urge to go down there came over her. Not understanding it (but not questioning it either) Sweetie opened the door and looked down into the dark basement; Twilight's personal laboratorium.

"Hey girls," she said after a moment, never breaking her gaze into the darkness below, "maybe there’s something down there?"

"It better be," Scootaloo grumbled, "there’s nothing here," as she and Apple Bloom moved next to Sweetie Belle, both of them looking down into the dark room that had Sweetie Belle's undivided attention.

Taking a first hesitant step down, Sweetie Belle began the descent down the flight of stairs, followed mere moments later by her friends. Apple Bloom quickly turned on the lights, bathing the dark, dreary looking blackness below in warm white light. Blinking numbly, Sweetie Belle snapped out of her semi-trance-like state. No longer did the basement look foreboding, and the three of them could see all the scientific equipment standing around, as well as a large bookcase. 

"Cooooolll," the three of them cooed at the same time, and together they ran the rest of the way down the stairs to take a better look at everything there. 

"What's this?" Scootaloo said excitedly as she held up a vial with some kind of red liquid.

"Ah dunno, but take a look at this here," Apple Bloom replied with the same level of excitement as she ran around a large machine found in the room. "What’d ya’ll think this is?"

"I think it is one of those fancy computer thingies," Sweetie Belle answered as she shot a sideways glance at the device. "It isn't anything made by humans, though," she added knowingly as she observed the machine.

Looking back at the book case, Sweetie Belle found herself drawn towards a strange black covered book. Slowly reaching out to it, she carefully pulled it from the shelf and held it up in her hooves. 

Looking at the book she was holding and, turning it around to see the other side of the black covered book, Sweetie Belle flinched when she saw the image of a pony's skull on the cover, but not enough to lose her grip and drop the book. 

Swallowing, she took a better look at the image, seeing the skull with glowing green eyes, which seemed to almost stare back at her. There was also a title written below the image that made Sweetie Belle more than a little nervous: Necronomicon.

Gingerly she traced a hoof over the image of the skull, not sure what it was that had drawn her to this book in particular. 

Suddenly a shock went through her hoof and through her leg, making her yelp out as she dropped the black covered book, not noticing the flash of green in the skull's eyes, or that the book seemingly opened on its own before it hit the ground.

"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom called out to her friend as she heard her pained yell.

"Are you alright?" Scootaloo asked, rushing to help her friend.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Sweetie Belle answered as she waved her hoof in the air, a pained expression on her face. "I got shocked by this book here. Must have been some protective spell or something."

"You sure?" Apple Bloom asked as she took a look at her friend’s hoof, trying to find any form of injury.

"Yes, I'm fine. It startled me more than anything."

"Whoa!" Scootaloo said in awe, drawing the attention of her fellow crusaders.

"What is it?" Sweetie Belle asked, seeing the orange pegasus stand over the book she had just dropped.

"Just read this," was all she answered as she scanned the information found on the pages.

At her suggestion, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stepped next to their friend. Looking down on the book that lay open, they could clearly see the many images of spectral beings, and the information detailing them. 

"There are many different forms of spectral beings," Apple Bloom read out loud, "Ghosts, specters, spirits and shades ta name a few. Each one of them is unique, and yet they are tha same. Their power comes from tha same source, but changes ta match tha form they chose after their death."

"Whatever the deceased will become, or call themselves, is determined during the choices they've made while alive, as well as the choice they will make at Purgatory," Scootaloo continues, an eager edge to her voice as they finally found what they were looking for. "And, as such, this is both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness."

"Spectral entities have the ability to possess the bodies of mortals," Sweetie Belle picked up, and the three of them shared an excited look when she mentioned the subject of possession. "But should they attempt such a feat on another spectral creature the effects could be catastrophic. The energy of the possessive ghost will try to match the energy of the possessed ghost. This is a very dangerous thing, as it has the known effect of destroying the powers of either one, or both ghosts."

"This is so cool!" Scootaloo squealed excitedly, her wings buzzing in earnest. "Does it also say how to find and capture a ghost?"

"I don't know?" Sweetie Belle said, shrugging.

"Well, why don't we find out," Apple Bloom replied sensibly as she skimmed through the pages. None of them noticed the words shifting and changing as she did so. And it didn't take long before she found something that seemed promising. Something she wasn't even looking for, but was led to regardless.

"Hey, look at this."

"How To Summon A Spirit," Scootaloo read, blinking rapidly as she had trouble absorbing the information found on the pages. Strangely enough, the next time she blinked and opened her eyes the words seemed suddenly much easier to understand. It was as if they had rewritten themselves. But that was just her imagination, right?

Shaking it off, she, as well as her friends, read the description on how to summon their very own spirit. 

"Are you girls thinkin’ what Ah'm thinkin’?" Apple Bloom asked her friends with a sideways glance.

"Does it have something to do with apples?" Sweetie Belle asked with a small grin.

"No... Yes... Maybe... It mighta crossed my mind, but that’s not what Ah meant. Ah thought we could try this summonin’ thingy, and call up a spirit or somethin’."

"But what good will that do?" Scootaloo asked annoyed, "I thought we were going for ghosts, not spirits."

"Ah know that. But tha book said they’re the same, more or less." 

"I guess," Scootaloo muttered.

"Eh girls, this does seem like it would take some magic to pull off, and I am not even able to lift a broom. This doesn't really seem possible."

"It don't seem all that hard," Apple Bloom said as she read the instructions in the book."

"I think she is just scared," Scootaloo mocked.

"Hey, I'm not scared."

"Yes you are, you chicken."

"I'm not a chicken!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

Scootaloo only replied by making chicken noises and weakly flapping her wings.

Pinkie Pie, standing at the edge of the mirror pool, looked at the ceiling with a flat, deadpanned expression. She sighed heavily while rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"You had to do it wrong again, didn't you. This is the second time, the SECOND time you got that joke wrong," she said loudly at the ceiling, glaring daggers at the author as he was typing these very words, while her voice echoed around her. 

"I'm warning you mister. I have a massive sugar rush, and I am not afraid to use it."

Confident she had made her point to the author she turned slightly to the side, "And you, proofread FASTER! We don't have all week you know?!"

The author slowly backed away from his keyboard, not wanting to deal with this crazy pony right now. While the proofreader was huddling in the fetal position, slowly rocking back and forth. Acting fast, the author quickly rushes back to the keyboard and changes the scene back to the basement.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom sat once more around the book. And, aside from a few muttered remarks about feathery animals that couldn't fly, they managed to stop their bickering and get back to business.

"Okay, so Ah do this," Apple Bloom said as she indicated a set of instructions about how to draw the glyphs necessary for their summoning. "Ah need somethin’ to draw ’em with, though."

"On it!" Scootaloo piped up, before she shot off. Only to return moments later with a set of crayons in her mouth.

"Here you go," she said as she dropped them at Apple Bloom's hooves.

"Thanks," she replied, and happily started working on the markings in the middle of the basement's floor.

"We're going to need some protection I think," Sweetie Belle spoke up as she continued to read the spell. "Why don't you go look to see if there is anything here we could use." 

With a nod Scootaloo shot off again, searching high and low in the basement.

"And I will try to do this, I guess," Sweetie Belle muttered unsure.

"All done!" Apple Bloom shouted happily a few moments later as she stepped away from the crude drawings.

"Found some!" Scootaloo piped up next, and carried a lab coat, boots and glasses with her. "We do need to share, though," she added as she pulled the goggles over her eyes, magnifying them tenfold, making it look like she had bug like eyes.

"Ah get tha coat!" Apple Bloom called out, and she hurried to put on the, much too large for her, coat. 

"Great," Sweetie muttered as she looked at the set of white lab boots, several sizes too large for her. 

Using what little telekinesis she could summon, she pulled the boots onto her legs, sighing as she realized they covered three quarters of her legs, and were several sizes too wide.

"Yeah…  This is going to work," she muttered sarcastically, before sighing and joining her two friends at the open book lying before the drawings Apple Bloom made on the floor.

"So, are we going to do this, or what?" Scootaloo said impatiently, more than eager for some action.

"Yeah, yeah. Just hold one one minute," Sweetie said frustrated, not sure how she was roped into doing this.

"Okay, stand back a bit," she told her friends, and a weak light green glow surrounded her horn. A glow that was mimicked by the symbols on the floor, which began to pulse in response to the unicorn filly's struggling attempt at a summoning.

As the lights in the basement began to flicker, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked around with a mixture of expectation and anxiety. A spark shot from Sweetie Belle’s horn, which spiraled randomly through the air, until it landed on the book lying before her. In a flash, toxic green energy shot from the book, hitting Sweetie Belle in the chest, and causing her own magic to spiral out of control. 

A bolt of pure green energy blasted off from her horn, bouncing off of the walls, ceiling and floor. The three fillies ran around screaming as they tried to dodge the glowing green orb of destruction, and, to make matters worse, all the various items found in the laboratory hit by the orb were blasted into pieces, or sent flying into the air.

Apple Bloom dodged and weaved to avoid the shower of shattered glass from the broken vials, while Scootaloo dived underneath a table, dodging the green orb headed towards her. Sweetie Belle, however, had the worst luck of the three, as the orb nearly hit her, and shattered a jar filled with gold dust, completely covering the cowering filly, save for her boots thanks to the magical contamination protection spell placed over them, keeping them as clean as ever.

It didn't stop there, though, and the next thing she knew she had run into a case filled with various potions. They rattled around in their racks from the shock, and several spilled over. One in particular, a bright red potion for unknown purposes, fell down on the scared filly, staining her mane with red streaks, and her tail as well, as she turned around to get away from the sticky liquid. 

Blinded by fear and gold dust, Sweetie ran around without aim. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, hiding underneath the desk Scootaloo had dove underneath earlier, watched their friend running around helplessly. They also saw the bolt of green energy fly towards her, and they both shouted a disastrous warning to Sweetie Belle.

Stopping in her tracks, Sweetie managed to open one of her eyes, only to see the glowing orb strike her squarely in the chest. And, as 'luck' would have wanted it, she was standing right in the middle of the glowing set of glyphs made by Apple Bloom. 

Sweetie Belle screamed soundlessly as the blow knocked the air out of her lungs, and the glyphs glowed with pure energy. A wave of green engulfed the gold covered filly, obscuring her from her friends’ sight as a swirling vortex formed around her. Sparks of energy shot out from the raging maelstrom, making it impossible for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to come anywhere near their friend, and they were forced to watch the events play out.

It seemed like hours, but it was only half a minute before the energy started to dissipate, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could begin to see the outline of their friend through the glow. She was, however, too far off the ground to be standing. It was after several more agonizing seconds that they were able to see their friend was actually hovering in place. And even more seconds until they were able to properly see their friend again. 

With a flash the energy vanished, and Sweetie Belle fell to the floor with a thud. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed to their friend, but they froze in place when they saw the changes that had happened to her. 

"What happened to her?" Scootaloo yelled in panic.

"Ah don't know!?" Apple Bloom shouted back, both of them watching the transformed filly with fear and shock.

With a low, long groan Sweetie Belle came to. Shaking her head a bit to regain focus, and rubbing her forehead near the base of her horn with a hoof. 

"What happened?" she asked in confusion as she struggled to get back up on all fours, but getting no reply from her friends.

"Girls, what happened?" she asked again, and looked up to meet their gazes. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, now concerned as she saw the open mouthed, wide eyed expressions her friends gave her. "Is there something on my face?"

Lifting a hoof to feel her face for any abnormalities Sweetie Belle found out something was wrong, very wrong. No matter how far she reached, she was unable to feel her face. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, however, let out a blood curdling screech when they saw Sweetie's  boot covered hoof move cleanly through her head' and stick out on the other side.

Pulling her hoof away as if she'd been shocked, Sweetie Belle looked at her friends with fear evident on her face. Swallowing loudly, she looked around to find anything she could use to see herself. 

A flicker of light from the overhead fixture reflecting in the shards of glass covering the ground provided the answer, and Sweetie gazed at herself in the reflective surface of one of the larger pieces.

She screamed. Loudly.

The boots she was wearing, white at first, had turned pitch black. Her gold covered fur had changed color as well, turning into a gleaming silver. And the bright red streaks the potion had left in her mane and tail had turned a deep blue. That, and her mane and tail seemed to be made of a mist, slowly moving as if struck by an unfelt breeze. And the eyes, her eyes, staring back at her. They were a glowing green.

"What happened to me!?" she screeched as she backed away from the strange pony looking back at her in the glass, looking to her friends for answers. 

"Ah… Ah don't know!" Apple Bloom said frantically, finally having found her voice again. Scootaloo, however, remained mute. Staring dumbly at her friend, almost unblinkingly.

"I can't be seen like this. Make it go away! MAKE IT GO AWAY!" Sweetie wailed as she lay down on the ground, eyes closed and her front hooves covering her face. 

A frightened gasp from Scootaloo and Apple Bloom only added to the dread she felt. Carefully lifting a hoof, she cracked open an eye to see what happened. Or she would have, if she wasn't already looking through her closed lids and hooves covering her eyes.

Another scream sounded through the basement, and Sweetie Belle backed away in fear, knocking several objects from the desk she hit. 

Her friends, unable to see the currently invisible filly, were startled by the sudden scream coming from thin air and the accompanying rain of objects.

Finally moving into action, Apple Bloom ran to the book covered with pieces of glass and other broken things which she didn't want to think about right now. They would come up with some explanation for Twilight later, but that was not important right now. Grabbing the book and shaking off the pieces of glass, Apple Bloom shifted through the pages frantically to find an answer.

"Come on, come on. There has to be an answer for this!?"

She saw the words contained in the pages shift before her eyes, but didn't question it any more. A lot of weird things were happening, and this book was the source of it. Whatever kind of magic was causing this, she just hoped there was a counterspell in this book that would help her friend. She didn't stop to see what it was the words shifted into, she just skipped through page after page, hoping to find an answer. But every page she turned to showed the exact same thing. Finally, after having reached the end of the book, Apple Bloom saw no other option than to read what it was the book was trying to show them. With a wavering voice Apple Bloom began reading it out loud, so the others could hear it as well.

There are many different forms of spectral beings. Ghosts, specters, spirits and shades to name a few. Each one of them is unique, and yet they are the same. Their power comes from the same source, but changes to match the form they chose after their death.

Whatever the deceased will become, or call themselves, is determined by the choices they've made while alive, as well as the choice they will make at Purgatory. But sometimes, in rare events, alive and dead mix, creating something truly unique. A Halfa. Over the millennia there have been only three beings that can be called as such. One chose the path of evil, another the path of the hero. And one who wandered, who was born in the dark but found her way into the light. 

But the hero was lost to guilt and sorrow, and evil is moving closer to him. The wanderer, still looking for him, will have the help of others, but it might not be enough. 

Destiny is a curious thing, and it is not always what you thought it to be. Three has become four, but it may not remain like that. 

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle. Your journey has only just begun. 

You looked for meaning in your lives, but it is in death that your path shall reveal itself. Sweetie Belle, in time you will know what you are meant to do. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, you will be by her side when that time comes. How things will play out however, depends on how you deal with this now. 

Sweetie Belle, either you embrace the gift given to you, learn to use it. Or you run away from it. But destiny will follow you everywhere, and the outcome will depend on your choice. 

Darkness is coming, and the hero might not be enough. 

Go forth Sweetie Belle, and find your destiny. 

Go forth, Silver Spirit.

Silence. 

Silence. 

"W-what?" Sweetie Belle stuttered as she sat next to Apple Bloom, scaring the yellow filly as she was still invisible. 

Scootaloo also reared back in fright, as she could hear her friend's voice coming from Apple Bloom's side, but not see her. But it was enough to shake her out of her stupor, and she slowly moved towards where the sound of Sweetie's voice came from, holding a hoof stretched out in front of her. 

A slight tremble moved through her outstretched leg as she took slow deliberate steps closer to the seemingly empty spot next to Apple Bloom, only to meet resistance as her hoof came in contact with the invisible filly.

"T- This is so weird," Scootaloo said in shock as she retracted her hoof, only to push it back again to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

"Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said with a muffled, annoyed voice, "get your hoof out of my face… Hold on, you could touch me!?" she said loudly as she realized what her friend had just done.

"You touched me, your hoof didn't go through me?"

Scootaloo only looked at her hoof as if she had stepped on something slimy, not sure what to make of it all.

"But we still can't see you," Apple Bloom said, her voice a bit calmer, but still on edge.

As if on cue, Sweetie Belle popped back in existence, surprising both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The latter stumbling backwards as she tripped over her own legs.

"Never mind," Apple Bloom said in a small voice as she could see her friend once more, as well as the changes she'd gone through.

"But I don't want to be seen like this. What will my big sister say?" Sweetie said, afraid as she carefully glanced back at her reflection in one of the many pieces of glass.

"We'll come up with somethin’. We always do," Apple Bloom said reassuringly, but not believing it herself.

"Y- yeah. It's what friends do, right? Maybe Twilight knows what to do?" Scootaloo added.

Nodding weakly, Sweetie Belle stood up. Walking towards the stairs with her head hung low as if she was heading to the gallows, she mentally prepared herself for whatever Twilight or Rarity might say, and couldn’t bear to think what anypony else would think. Especially Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She wished this would all just go away, that she could turn back into her normal self.

A flash of silvery white light appeared around her, forming as a glowing band of energy around her midsection. All three fillies gasped out over this new development. 

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched in amazement when the band split in two. One part moved across Sweetie's front, while the other along her back. 

They couldn't believe what they were seeing, as, in front of their eyes, Sweetie Belle turned back to normal. White coat, curly two toned pink and purple mane, normal not glowing green eyes, no blue streaks going through her mane. And, weirdest of all, the boots were gone as well.

Sweetie looked at herself with wide eyes, a happy smile slowly forming on her face. 

"I'm me again!"  she shouted happily while wrapping her front legs around herself in a hug. Only for her to shoot a beam of toxic green energy from her horn, making a scorch mark on the ceiling.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo once more had their mouths unhinged as they saw what had happened. And this time it was Scootaloo that was the first to respond.

"That… Was… So… AWESOME!" she yelled as she jumped up, wings buzzing in excitement. "Do that again."

"How? I don't know how I did that." Sweetie replied, when she suddenly found herself sinking through the floor. "OR THIS!" she added frantically, and her friends rushed to her side and pulled her back up. 

"What is happening to me?"

"Silver spirit," Scootaloo muttered, earning herself a questioning glance from her friends.

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"The book, it called you Silver Spirit," Scootaloo said as she looked back at the black book, only to find it was gone.

"Hey, where’d tha book go?" Apple Bloom said puzzled, "Did one of ya’ll move it?"

Both fillies shook their head, indicating they hadn't done so. A low rumble sounded through the room, and all the various objects, broken or otherwise, began to shake and rattle in response, making the three scared ponies back away in fear.

"I don't think I want to be here any longer," Sweetie Belle said frightened.

"Me neither," Scootaloo replied.

"Same here," Apple Bloom confirmed. And together the three of them fled up the stairs, screaming the whole time as the rumbling and shaking intensified. Only leaving behind a set of protective glasses and a lab coat lying in a heap on the ground.

The door slammed shut behind them as a green glow filled the basement. All the various objects moved back to their original places, and those that were broken repaired themselves. And, in the center of it all, a black book with a skull on its cover hovered in the air. The sockets of the skull glowing a bright green. Then, as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped, and the basement was as tidy as ever.

The book however, turned around so that the skull faced the bookcase Sweetie Belle had found it in; hovering in place as if it was waiting for something. Another rumble began to rattle the objects in the basement, and the books began to shake more and more violently as a green glow seemed to shine from behind them. 

Suddenly, every last one of the books flew out of the bookcase and started circling in mid air, a green glow connecting everyone of them, as a portal formed in the center of the spinning circle of books. A lone figure stepped out of it, dropping to the ground as he looked around. He wore a cloak with the hood down, and had a beard and glasses, giving him the look of an old monk.

"Oh, here you are," he said to the book, and held out his hand for it to land in. But, barely touching the black book, the Ghost Zone's librarian could feel the residual energy still coming from the book, and with a heavy sigh he looked at the skull on the book's cover. "Oh, Necky. What did you do this time?"

The book answered by opening to the exact center, showing only one word.

"Destiny."

Panic.

It was the only thing on their minds, and the only reaction they had to what they were seeing. They had run out of the basement, never looking back, and out of the library, slamming the door shut behind them. But what they saw next made them press their backs against the door, questioning if they might have been better off back in the basement. 

Pinkie Pies. Pinkie Pies everywhere. Pinkie Pies bouncing down the street. Pinkie Pies jumping up and down chimneys. Pinkie Pies wreaking havoc all around town.

"Did we do this?" Sweetie Belle squeaked in panic.

"FUN! FUN! FUN!"

"Ah don't know?" Apple Bloom said, equally frightened. 

"We need to get out of here!" Scootaloo said, eyes darting left and right as she tried to find an escape route.

"Over there!" she shouted as she made a mad dash for an opening in the herd of pink, soon followed by the other two crusaders. 

"We have to do something! This is our fault, isn't it?" Sweetie quietly shouted, not wanting everypony else to hear her.

"How could it be? We never did anything with Pinkie Pie… today," Apple Bloom replied after a moment. "Whoa!" she shouted as a stray Pinkie jumped in front of her, and she was forced to evade the crazy wall of pink. "WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"

"FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN!"

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Scootaloo yelled back, and she pushed herself a bit more, getting as much speed out of her small legs and wings as she could.

"Wait up!" Sweetie Belle shouted, being the slowest of the three, having neither pegasus nor earth pony speed. 

Her struggle to keep up with her friends cost her, and she tripped over her own legs. Falling down on the ground, a bolt of green energy shot from her horn, hitting one of the many Pinkies in the head. 

"Fu-nnnn..."

The pony that was hit had a dazed look, and her head wobbled on her neck, before she collapsed on the street, legs splayed wide. 

Sweetie Belle screamed over what she had done, and it was only thanks to Apple Bloom coming to help her back up and pull her away that she didn't remain there. 

"We have to go back! She could be hurt!" Sweetie wailed as Apple Bloom pulled her away. 

"Ah know, but we can't be here right now. Whatever this is, whether it is something we did or not. You don't want them ta find out what happened ta you, right?"

Sweetie Belle didn't answer, her friend’s words echoing through her mind.

'What did happen to me?' she wondered as she was mindlessly pulled along, never stopping for anything or anypony.

The door of the tree house slammed shut, and Scootaloo leaned against it, standing on her hind legs, breathing heavily. 

In the center of the crusaders’ clubhouse sat Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, just as much out of breath as their pegasus friend.

"What happened?" Scootaloo managed to say, as she slowly slid down the door.

"How should Ah know?" Apple Bloom replied, rushing to one of the windows to peer outside. 

"And what was the deal with Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo continued, ignoring Apple Bloom, as she moved over to the scared unicorn filly, poking her with a hoof.

"Stop it, Scootaloo," Sweetie said in a mixture of annoyance, fright, and sadness.

She didn't, and she continued to poke her friend, not believing what had happened back there. 

"I SAID STOP IT!"  Sweetie Belle yelled, and Scootaloo hurried away from her. But it wasn't her yelling that made her do so. It were her eyes. They were glowing a toxic green.

Swallowing loudly, Scootaloo was unable to avert her gaze, and she was forced to stare into the toxic green glow coming from her friend’s eyes.

Sweetie Belle, angry that her friend kept poking her, could see something had scared her. And it didn't take long for her to find out what it was. Seeing the glow of her eyes reflected in Scootaloo's large, fearful eyes, she knew it came from her, but she didn't want to believe it. 

 She screamed again as she back peddled away, hitting a wall behind her, and drawing the attention of Apple Bloom, who was watching outside to see if anypony, pink or any other color, was looking for them.

Seeing her friend backed up against the wall, she cocked an eyebrow as she didn't know what all that was about.

"Why did you scream? " she asked.

"My eyes, they're..." Sweetie stuttered in fear

"They're, what? Ah don't see anything weird."

Not believing her friend, Sweetie rushed to the chest at the other side of the clubhouse, digging through the various objects they had used over the course of their crusading, and pulled out one of the hoof held mirrors they had "borrowed" from her sister.

Staring at her reflection, she could see her eyes were their normal, not glowing green, and she let out a sigh of relief. Only for her to drop the mirror as her hoof became intangible, shattering the glass on the ground.

"Go away! GO AWAY!" she screamed as she shook her hoof, trying to shake it off, which only seemed to make it worse. Her leg completely lost shape, and nothing but an intangible trail was left. Twisting and turning in the air as if it was hit by an unfelt breeze, and Sweetie Belle felt herself becoming nauseous from fear. 

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could only stare at the strange sight, not sure what they could do to help their friend. 

"We need to get help," Sweetie Belle whimpered, tears forming in her eyes as she didn't dare look at her leg, or whatever it had become.

"Jus' calm down," Apple Bloom said, "We'll figure this out."

Shaking her head weakly, Sweetie closed her eyes, and took several calming breaths, slowly regaining control over herself. And, as she did so, her leg returned to normal as well. 

"Look," Scootaloo said as she stared at the leg, "it went back to normal again."

Carefully opening a single eye, Sweetie saw her friend was right, and a sigh of relief escaped her mouth. Only for her to fall backwards as both her hind legs turned into an intangible trail, not unlike a tail, and the color of her legs mixed with those of her tail, which had also become a part of this. 

Looking at her friends with fear in her eyes, Sweetie could only mutter one word.

"Help!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were frantically running around their club house, completely at a loss to what they should do. They had messed up, big time, and there wasn't even any tree sap involved. Which, most likely, meant that this was far from over and everything was still going to blow up in their faces. 

Scootaloo especially had trouble keeping herself under control, and the rapid, panicked flapping of her wings caused the various papers lying around to blow up in the air, which only added to the chaos. 

Apple Bloom, although a bit more down to earth than Scootaloo, was also lost in panic. Looking through the windows in paranoia, afraid that her sister, or somepony else would find out what they had done and come for them. 

They had already gotten in trouble when they went manticore hunting, and she was sure she would be grounded for life this time. 

And Sweetie Belle, she was cowering in the center of the room, holding her front legs over her head in a shielding manner, sobbing to herself as her hind legs and tail were still transformed, twisting and turning uncontrollably in the storm made by Scootaloo. Still, she was the most calm of them all, surprisingly, considering she was the one that got hit the worst. With a sob she pulled one hoof away from over her eyes and glanced at the mess that was being made. Something had to be done, and it was obvious that her friends wouldn't do it.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself down, and to steel herself, Sweetie Belle lifted herself up with her front legs. Her hind body lifted up as well, seemingly able to support its weight even without hind legs. This freaked her out again, but she managed to stop herself before she would lose control over herself again, and managed to shake it off, partially. 

"Girls!" she said loudly, gaining no reply.

"Girls!" she said louder, but still no response.

Rearing up on her hind legs so she could stomp her front hooves on the ground, Sweetie prepared to shout as loud as she could. But a small detail that had slipped her mind for a split second came rushing back as she realized she didn't have any hind legs anymore, and she screamed out again as she looked down, seeing herself hover in the air.

This did at least draw the attention of her friends, and Apple Bloom turned to look at her, while Scootaloo stopped dead in her tracks. Both of their mouths fell open with sonic rainboom speed. 

"Y-y-y-you're flying," Apple Bloom stammered, completely blown away.

"How are you doing that?" Scootaloo asked, sounding almost awed.

"I don't know!? Just get me down!" Sweetie shouted back as she flailed her legs in the air as she tried to maintain her balance.

As if on her command, her legs and tail turned back to normal, and gravity took a hold on her again. Dropping down to the ground with a: "Oomph," Sweetie Belle rubbed her sore flank, muttering several obscenities that would age her sister several years if she heard, but glad she was normal again, as far as this would count as normal.

"What is happening to me?" she quietly muttered as she looked herself over.

Slowly moving over to her friend again, Scootaloo gently pushed a hoof against one of Sweetie's hind legs, feeling they were completely tangible again.

"Silver Spirit." she muttered, earning a confused glance from both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. 

"What?" Sweetie asked unsure.

"Silver Spirit. The book called you Silver Spirit, didn’t it?" Scootaloo asked, getting a weak nod from Apple Bloom, as she was the one that had read it. "I- I- I think that spell you did made you a spirit."

Silence. 

More silence. 

"WHAT!?"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in disbelief, looking at their friend as if she was crazy.

"Hey, you saw what happened yourself," Scootaloo immediately defended herself. "What happened to Sweetie, and what the book said. Do you have a better idea about what happened?"

"Ah… You… Well, no." Apple Bloom stammered her answer, "But you can't be serious. How could that even happen?"

"Like how we just saw, maybe."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof and started to argue about it, but couldn't think of anything so she stood there with her mouth open and leg raised.

"You've got a point there," she relented.

"Wait, I do?" Scootaloo said surprised, "Huh, that's new."

"But, if you're right. Does that mean that I am d-"—Sweetie swallowed loudly—"dead?"

In a flash of light, a band of energy formed around her midsection. Splitting in two, one half moved forwards, while the other moved backwards. Where the rings of light moved over her, her body transformed. Her white coat became a shining silver, and her mane and tail turned into a silver intangible mist with blue streaks going through them. Her eyes began to glow a toxic green, and her legs were now covered with wide black boots. 

"I guess so," Scootaloo answered meekly as she stared wide eyed at Sweetie Belle, unable to close her mouth after she finished talking.

Several hours had passed, and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had gotten somewhat used to the weirdness that was Sweetie Belle's transformation. Not much, though. Enough to not freak out every time her eyes glowed green, or her body became intangible or invisible. 

Eventually Sweetie turned back to her normal self, not knowing how it had happened, but glad it did. The three of them had agreed to tell nopony about this, fearing what they would say, and the grounding they would most likely get. Still, there were two problems still to deal with: Where did all those Pinkie Pies come from? Did they do that? Or was it some random, ill timed coincidence? And what about Twilight's basement? 

They had to find out, which wasn't all that difficult. They could just ask one of their sisters what had happened, making sure not to give away anything about what they had done. They would have to avoid Twilight, though. She would most likely would want an answer about what had happened to her basement. Simple, if you didn't count the fact that Sweetie Belle's body could do all kinds of crazy things at any random time. Especially shooting that weird glowing green energy from her hooves, which really freaked them out. So, they decided to leave her in their clubhouse, while they would look around town and find out if everything was safe. This way she wouldn't accidentally give herself away and, maybe, figure out how to control this while she was there. 

"Okay Sweetie, stay calm," Sweetie Belle told herself, taking several calming breaths. "Whatever this is, you can control it, I hope. Okay, let's see. Hooves normal?" Looking at her hooves, she saw they were their normal white. "Check. Mane and tail normal?... Check. Eyes?" Looking into the hoof held mirror, "Normal. Cutie Mark?... Nope, sigh."

It would seem everything was as it should be, blank flank and all. The question she had now: Would it stay like that, or was it going to change?

It was a double question, and it made her wish for a different answer for the each of them. 

But for now, she would settle with remaining normal. It was a wish that wasn't granted, as she was, ever so slowly, sinking through the floor. 

"OH, COME ON!" she shouted, and pulled herself back up. Her lower body turned tangible with a pop as she pulled herself free from the wooden floor and fell backwards, hind legs sticking up in the air.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?" she shouted at her legs, which, in response, turned into an intangible tail, falling limply over her face.

A loud groan could be heard coming from the treehouse. 

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were heading back to town, neither one of them in a hurry to do so. Walking as slowly as they could, but not slow enough to look guilty, they looked around at some of the destruction caused by the pink tidal wave named Pinkie Pie. 

They really hoped they weren't the cause of this, or they would be grounded for life. Not to mention the fact that they would most likely have to clean all of this up. 

"Ahbdon't know 'bout you. But Ah really hope we only messed up Sweetie Belle, and not all of Ponyville," Apple Bloom said in a lowered voice.

"Yeah, me too. Although I wish Sweetie was fine too," Scootaloo replied.

"Yeah, me too. What do you think really happened ta her?"

Scootaloo shrugged in response, before answering.

"Beats me. The book called her a spirit or something, I'll just stick with that for now."

"Ah guess," Apple Bloom said unsure as they both approached Ponyville.

"Let's just get this over with!" she added more loudly, walking a bit faster.

"Yeah, sure," Scootaloo said less than thrilled, and followed her friend.

Ponyville was in chaos. Not because there were ponies running around in panic, but because of all the damage done. Windows were broken. Doors were unhinged. Plants were crushed, and the ground littered with hoofprints. The various stalls on the marketplace were scattered and broken, and most of the wares for sale thrown on the ground. Ponies were scurrying through the destruction, already working on fixing and cleaning everything.

"We are in so much trouble!" Scootaloo said in a hushed whisper, and Apple Bloom flinched back a bit.

"Let's jus' find out what happened, okay?" she replied, downtrodden, and looked for somepony to tell them what exactly happened.

Of course they had to find somepony who didn't know all too well what they were capable of, and who wouldn't question everything about where they have been. Somepony who had only just met them. Somepony that, even though certain things they might have done in the short time he'd know them might cause concern, would give them the benefit of the doubt. Somepony that walked on two legs, and wasn't a pony at all.

They knew just who to go to.

"This is not helping at all!" Sweetie Belle shouted in frustration as she sat on the floor, her forelegs turned into an intangible trail and waved around in the air.

"Why is this happening?"

For the last thirty or so minutes, since Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had left her alone in their clubhouse, Sweetie had been trying to figure out how to control these strange things happening to her body, with little success. It wasn't all that surprising, as she didn't even know where to start, or what was happening to her in the first place. But it proved to be very, very frustrating. So much so that, without knowing, her eyes glowed a toxic green as she shouted at her legs. 

Groaning out in frustration for the umpteenth time, Sweetie Belle let herself fall forwards, faceplanting against the wooden floor. But the hit never came, and Sweetie found her head sticking through and out from underneath the floor. 

She didn't groan. She didn't sigh or shout. She just breathed out heavily as she used her hind legs to pull herself back into the treehouse. Falling backwards again as she pulled free, Sweetie just lay there as she stared up at the ceiling, taking notice that she didn't sink through the floor again, and figuring she had turned solid again. If only she knew how to do that herself. Not only would it help her not to draw any suspicion to herself, but it would provide her with some very interesting new possibilities.   

She shook her head as that thought crossed her mind. Was she really considering using this thing? What good could possibly come from any of this? Then again. Walking through walls would be rather useful if she was grounded again, so maybe there was some use for this afterall. But she would have to figure out how to use it first.

Sitting back up with a sigh, Sweetie looked at her front hooves again, seeing they were their normal solid selves again. 

"Okay. Let's try this again."

Closing her eyes in concentration, she willed her leg, and only her leg, to turn invisible. Opening her eyes after several moments, she looked down, and saw nothing. Her leg, and only her leg, had vanished into thin air. A sense of accomplishment settled down on her, and she couldn't help but feel somewhat excited. If she was able to do this, who knows what she would be able to do in the future. A smile slowly found its way onto her muzzle, and her lower body sunk through the floor.

"OH, COME ON!" 

Danny Manson was less than happy. His cheerful day had turned sour the moment Pinkie decided to duplicate herself and wreak havoc all around town. And now he was working overtime with Ruby and Grill to clean up the mess all of those Pinkies had made of the cafe. At least he had the good fortune of having his house some distance from the center of town, as such it was spared from the destructive force unleashed. But even then, some damage had occurred, and Danny grumbled under his breath.

Setting tables back upright that were turned over, Ruby shot him a glance, knowing how he felt. Her home was also hit, and she knew that both of them had to continue cleaning up when they got home. Looking over to Grill, she could see him working diligently back in the cafe, cleaning the things in there. Sighing, she wished for any kind of distraction, just to have something to take their minds off of all of this for a moment.

"HEY DANNY!" Apple Bloom shouted, as she and Scootaloo ran over to him. 

Ruby gulped as she saw her wish granted, hoping it wouldn't make things worse. Those fillies had a bad habit of making an even bigger mess of things than Pinkie had done.

"Yeah, what's up?" Danny replied as he placed his hands on top of the broom, and resting his head on top of them. 

"Do you... Ah mean... We’re wonderin’ what happened here. Why were there so many Pinkie Pies everywhere?" Apple Bloom asked, giving him the most innocent smile she could.

Arching his eyebrow at the almost too-big-to-be-sincere smile, Danny stood straight and shrugged.

"Beats me. I heard something about some pool mirror or something, I'm not really sure. You'd have to ask Twilight about that. She and her friends are in the town hall right now, trying to figure out what to do with all those Pinkies."

Sharing an uneasy glance between each other, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom rubbed their heads awkwardly as they looked down at Danny's feet.

"So, Twilight huh?" Scootaloo asked lamely.

"Is there anypony else who might know something?" Apple Bloom asked, looking up at Danny expectantly.

Danny shrugged, "Maybe your sister or her friends? They might know what was going on. Other than that, I have no idea."

Apple Bloom's and Scootaloo's ears folded flat on their heads, knowing that if they wanted an answer, they would have to go to the manticore's lair, as it were. They would have to face Twilight. They just hoped she hadn't seen the mess they'd made of her basement.

"Okay, Danny. Thanks Danny." Apple Bloom said with faked cheer, as she and Scootaloo hurried to get away.  

"Those two are up to something," Ruby said as she watched the two fillies run away. 

"Yeah, I figured as much," Danny replied, "I wonder wha—"

"HEY! You two, stop lollygagging, and get back to work!" Grill said irritated as he stuck his head out of one of the broken windows, glaring at the two of them. Danny and Ruby quickly went back to work, forgetting about those two fillies for the time being.

Sweetie Belle was hovering several centimeters above the floor, struggling to keep herself there. It had taken her a lot of effort, but she had pulled it off. She was flying, sort of. And she was determined to hold this out for as long as possible. 

"Five minutes and counting," she grunted as she looked at the small clock she had set on the floor beneath herself. "Come on, just a little longer." she muttered, before faltering after another twenty seconds had passed, and she dropped to the floor. 

Panting loudly from the effort it took, she pondered what she had managed to do so far. Turning invisible proved to be relatively simple, as long as she concentrated hard enough. But she was too easily distracted, and thus she was unable to remain unseen for very long. Not to mention she would fade in and out of sight at random more than she would like. But she was figuring out how to deal with that, she just needed more time. Intangibility was more difficult, and she had not been able to do this herself. It only happened on its own, and it proved to be very frustrating. Flying was something she didn't first expect, and it went against her very nature as an unicorn. The strain she had to put on herself to do so was tiring, and she didn't know if she would ever be able to pull this one off for any significant amount of time. And, as far as that weird glowing stuff around her hooves and horn went. It wasn't magic, she figured that out soon enough. 

After having tried to shoot one of those bolts again through the use of her magic, she found herself unable to do anything more than make her horn spark. And her hooves remained as un-glowing as ever. However, when she sneezed, a bolt of energy shot from her left hoof, leaving a scorch mark on the wall. It was confusing for her, but this time she was able to feel the energy rush through her body, and it most certainly wasn't magic.

After concentrating on her body, she could dimly feel some strange energy within herself. And, after several attempts, she was able to let some of it out in the form of a glow around her horn and hooves. It was a green glow, not unlike the feeble amount of magic she could channel through her horn, so it might be possible to disguise the one as the other. But this strange energy did glow several shades darker than her magic, so she would have to be careful with it.

It would take time, but Sweetie began to believe that she would be able to control this… whatever this was. 

There was just one more thing she needed to try though, and she wasn't sure how to do it. Still, better try something, right?

Planting her hooves firmly on the floor, Sweetie concentrated as hard as she could on the energy she felt inside.

"Come on, transform!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at the closed doors of town hall with dread. They knew that behind these doors were Apple Bloom's sister, as well as Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, multiple Pinkie Pies… and Twilight. They had been sitting in front of the closed double doors for several minutes now, hesitating to proceed.

"You do it," Scootaloo said, arguing over who should be the one to knock.

"No, you do it," Apple Bloom shot back.

"No you."

"No you."

"Ghraaa... Fine, together," Scootaloo muttered.

"On three?" Apple Bloom asked.

"On three." Scootaloo confirmed.

"One," Scootaloo began, and both of them lifted up their hooves.

"Two," Apple Bloom continued, and they moved their hooves to the door.

"Three."

*Knock*

Silence. 

"Well, looks like nopony is here. Let's go," Scootaloo said quickly, already moving away from the door.

Apple Bloom stomped down on her tail, stopping her retreat cold, as she herself kept a pensive look on her face.

"We can't leave now. We need ta find out what happened."

"Yeah, but wh—" Scootaloo started, but she was interrupted by the sound of loud popping, and a purple pink stream of magic flew out of a top window.

"What was that?" they both said together, before, quietly, cracking opening the door so they could peek inside.

Their breath got caught in their throats as they saw a room full of pink. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stood to the side of the room, watching over the herd of Pinkies, while Twilight and Spike were on the stage near the back. Spike was slumped over the stool he was sitting on, an empty bag of popcorn lying on his belly. Twilight, however, seemed busy scanning the crowd, looking for something.

"Look what I can do with my hooves," one of the Pinkies said, and she stuck a hoof in her mouth and blew on it. Her other hoof, held up for another Pinkie to see, suddenly seemed to inflate in certain parts, forming what roughly looked like those fingers Danny had on his hands.

Both of the Pinkies were hit with a blast of purple magic, making them inflate like balloons as they flew up in the air. Then, they popped, and a twin trail of purple pink energy shot away and out of the door Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had partially opened.

Screaming as they fell backwards, the doors wide open, they could only stare up as Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked down on them. Neither one of them looked all that thrilled with the two fillies showing up like they had.

Several more pops sounded coming from inside, and five more streams of energy flew away into the air, heading for the Everfree Forest.

"Apple Bloom," Applejack said with a calm, but serious tone.

"Squirt," Dash said, a bit less serious, but still more than enough to make Scootaloo feel uncomfortable.

"Mind telling us what you're doing here?"

"Ehhh… We were just in tha neighborhood, and were wondering where all those Pinkies came from," Apple Bloom answered, a large, apologetic smile on her face.

"Uhu..." Applejack was not believing it, arching an eyebrow.

"It's true," Scootaloo said, sounding almost defensive.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared a look with each other, before turning their attention back to the two fillies still lying on the ground before them. 

"An' where is Sweetie Belle?" Applejack asked.

"She... eh… She's..." Apple Bloom stammered.

"She.. had to do something else, yeah," Scootaloo answered weakly instead.

"Right, back at our clubhouse. She's right there, perfectly fine. Nothin’ to worry about," Apple Bloom said hastily, eyes darting between Scootaloo and her older sister.

"Sooo," Scootaloo began, trying to steer this interrogation away from them. "Where did all those Pinkies come from?"

"Why, from the mirror pool, of course," Pinkie Pie chirped happily as she stood over Scootaloo, pressing her face into hers, before she was hit by a blast of magic, and popped like a balloon.

"Another one down, just a few more to go," Twilight said, her horn smoking a bit from using that spell so many times.

"What's a mirror pool?" Apple Bloom asked after a moment.

"Nothin’ ya need worry yer pretty head over, little sis," Applejack said, as she and Dash finally helped the two fillies back onto their hooves.

"Sooo, that's it. Some weird pool mirror did this?" Scootaloo asked cautiously hopefully.

"Something like that, yeah," Dash said as she patted her number one fan on the head, "But we're kinda busy here trying to figure out which Pinkie is the real one."

"I am!" Pinkie Pie shouted, before being hit with Twilight's magic.

"Right, like I said. We're kinda busy, so you two better get out of here."

Both of them nodded eagerly, more than glad to leave before they had to confront Twilight.

"Just wait a moment," Twilight said as she stepped out of the door, though keeping an eye on the remaining Pinkies.

The two fillies froze on the spot. They were so close to a clean getaway, and now they were unable to escape.

"Did you two and Sweetie Belle do anything in my lab down in the basement while I was gone?" she asked, giving the two of them a look that made them very nervous.

"Ehh. No, not really," Apple Bloom managed to say, before nudging Scootaloo in the side, urging her to say something.

"We really didn't do anything. Why'd you ask?"

"Because, despite all the damage done by Pinkie Pie, my la-" Twilight paused mid-sentence to shoot another spell at one of the Pinkies. "Because my lab looks cleaner than ever."

"HUH?" both fillies uttered in confusion, before shaking their heads, just going with it.

"Maybe Spike cleaned up or somethin’?" Apple Bloom suggested.

"Yeah, totally," Scootaloo agreed.

"So, if we're no longer needed here…..." Apple Bloom said suggestively.

"Then we're going again, " Scootaloo finished, "Lots of things to do."

And before any of the older mares could answer, the two of them shot off, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

"Them kids are up ta somethin’," Applejack said as she looked at the retreating forms of the two fillies.

"Totally," Dash agreed.

"Indeed, yes indeed," Pinkie Pie said with a fancy voice, a monocle before her eye and a fake mustache on her muzzle.

She vanished in a burst of magic.

"COME ON, TRANSFORM!" Sweetie almost shouted as she strained herself to do just that. But all she managed to do was give herself a headache from the strain, and she collapsed in a heap, legs splayed to the sides.

"This is never going to work," she groaned.

"What isn’t?" Apple Bloom asked suddenly, making Sweetie scream out in surprise, turning invisible without thinking.

Turning around to face her friends, Sweetie turned visible again at her own command. 

"Cool. You can control it now?" Scootaloo said almost awed.

"Not really. Most of the times it just happens. I can only turn invisible if I concentrate really hard."

"But you can control it?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Kinda, I guess," came the doubtful response from Sweetie.

"Anything else you figured out?' Apple Bloom continued asking.

"Well, this," Sweetie answered, and she lifted her hoof up. Energy began to pour into the outstretched limb, and her hoof began to glow a faint toxic green. Then she shot a small, mostly powerless beam into the wall behind her, which was covered with small burns.

"Cooool," Scootaloo said as she sprinted to the wall, dragging a hoof over the burnt spot.

"I figured out how to fly as well," Sweetie said, dropping a bombshell on her pegasus friend.

Scootaloo, frozen on the spot from those words, slowly turned around to look at her friend. Her face a mixture of awe and jealousy.

"Show me!"

"Okay… Here goes," Sweetie said, and closed her eyes in concentration. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then, one by one, her hooves lifted off the floor, and she was levitating in the air several centimeters above the floor. 

"THAT. IS. SO. AWESOME!" Scootaloo shouted excitedly, as she ran around Sweetie Belle to look at her from every angle

Dropping down after a moment, Sweetie let out a sigh of relief as she no longer had to strain herself like that. But, she noticed, it had felt easier to do this time.

"That's about it," Sweetie said. "So, found out anything yourselves?"

"Actually, we did," Apple Bloom said after shaking her head, clearing her thoughts enough to reply.

"And?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Well, we didn't cause tha whole thing with Pinkie, so we got that going fer us."

"That's kinda nice," Scootaloo said with a relieved sigh, "So we only messed you up."

"Yay," Sweetie said sarcastically, "I'm so thrilled about that."

"I didn't mean it like that," Scootaloo said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Moving on," Apple Bloom cut in between, "It also seems that somepony cleared up the basement after we left, so we don't have ta worry about Twilight neither."

"What?" Sweetie asked, blinking rapidly. "Who?"

"I don't know?" Apple Bloom replied with a shrug.

"Seriously. What the hay is going on?" Sweetie said, frustrated with the lack of answers, and it showed. 

Her eyes glowed green, as did her horn. Small sparks flicked off of her horn, leaving tiny burn marks in the wood. Noticing this, Sweetie took several deep calming breaths, and the glow around her horn vanished, leaving only her eyes glowing. 

"That’s really... freaky," Apple Bloom said. "Please don't look at me like that."

"I'll try, but I really don't control any of it," Sweetie said, downtrodden, "What if my sister finds out about this when it just starts doing things again? 

"Don't worry, it won't," Apple Bloom said reassuringly, patting her troubled friend on the back.

"You sure?"

"Ah am. Hey, tell you what. Why don't we spend tha night right here. We just tell everypony we're having a sleepover, while, instead, Scoots and Ah will help you figure this thing out.” 

"Really?" Sweetie said, her ears perking up hopefully.

"O’course, that's what friends are for," Apple Bloom told her.

"Yeah, we will totally stick by your side with this," Scootaloo spoke up, "Besides, maybe we’ll be able to earn our Cutie Marks doing this?"

"Yeah," Sweetie said hopefully, a smile finding its way on her face, "Maybe we will."

"So, you two thinking what Ah'm thinkin’?" Apple Bloom asked, an eager glint showing in her eyes.

"Is it about apples?" Scootaloo asked lamely.

"Well, yeah. That too, but that's not what Ah am talkin’ 'bout. So, are you two thinkin’ what Ah am thinking?"

 "Duhu, do you even need to ask?" Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes, and her mouth turned into a grin.

"Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Count me in." 

"Okay," she said, and all three of them sucked in as much air as they could.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spirit Training. YAY!"