Chapter 24: Ghostbusters
A few days later it was a cloudy day; and like many cloudy days it was a very boring and droopy one. Since there was a storm scheduled for later in the afternoon, Bryce, Apple Bloom, and Dinky did the first's daily chores with much haste. Just as he was finishing his repairs to the weather vane on the roof, Bryce heard the two fillies talking down below with somepony.
"Excuse me girls, but have either of you seen Bryce?"
"Yeah, he's up on the roof."
"The roof, why would he be up there?"
"He had ta fix the weather vine."
"The weather... *Yawn*... Do you mean the weather vane, darling?"
"Uh huh, that pointy thing on the tippy top of the roof. BRYCE, MISS RARITY'S HERE!"
Bryce rushed to get down the ladder. "OKAY, SPROUT, I'LL BE DOWN IN A-" As soon as he got his head down to the edge of roof, the ladder tipped back. "Oh shite!" It took all of Bryce's strength to hold onto the side rails as he and the ladder came crashing down. A few seconds after he hit the ground, he let out a pained, "Ow."
Rarity, the fillies, and Corn came rushing over when they heard the crash. "My word, are you okay, darling?" Rarity asked as she used her magic to pull the ladder off the human.
"Well... my back feels better than it ever has before."
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah." Bryce pushed himself up and stood before the three equines and canine.
"Well that's a relief I suppose. I'm *yawn* here to give you your clothes." Rarity held them out to him in a packaged bundle enveloped in a blue aura.
"That's great, thanks," he said as he took them from the white unicorn, "I'll try them on later."
"Oh, do you think you could try them on now. I only ask to make sure they fit properly."
"Well, you have a point." He held the bundle under one arm and pulled out Corn's tennis ball. "Girls, while I do this you both go and play with Corn. I'm sure this won't take too long." He threw it across the yard prompting Corn and the fillies to take chase. Bryce and Rarity walked to the front of the house. "Let's take this to my room," he said as he held the door open for Rarity. "After you."
"Thank you, darling." Rarirtyu let out another wide mouthed yawn.
When they both reached the end of the hallway, Bryce entered the bathroom to change while Rarity waited for him in his bedroom. Slipping out of the clothes he was currently wearing, Bryce tried on the boxers first. Okay, they feel fine. A little itchy, but bearable.
Next he tried on the socks. They were all thick and ended in gold at the toes, like he had asked. Hmm, comfy.
The next were the shorts. They were easy to get on, had the pockets on the sides, or saddle bags as everypony called them, and were easy to fasten. When he released his grip on them they slipped off his hips and sank down to the floor. Well, I'm really not surprised about that; my old shorts have been doing that since last week.
Lastly, Bryce tried on the shirts. Each one was a single color, eight in all, and they were all baggy and saggy. Well, at least none of them are grey. And did she really have to put her tramp tat on every single one?
Walking out of the bathroom with what he had on, Bryce entered his room. Still holding up the shorts Rarity had made for him, he said, "Okay, Rarity, I think the first issue is..."
Rarity was lying on his bed; soundly snoozing. A pillow was held in her forehooves. In her sleep, Bryce could hear her mumble, "Oh you're so... tall and handsome... I can't see how all the mares aren't throwing themselves at your... at your hooves."
"Uh... Rairty."
Rarity began to stir. "What, who...? Oh, I'm sorry, Bryce, I *yawn* wasn't able to get much sleep last night I'm afraid."
"Really, what's the matter?"
"I'm not really certain. I know this may sound foalish, but I think my house may be... haunted."
Bryce smirked. "Haunted?"
Rarity jumped off the bed and shot Bryce a look. "If you're just going to make fun of a lady then maybe I should-"
Bryce held his hands out in front of him and began to chuckle. "I'm sorry, it's just... Really?" Rarity shot him a second, dreary eyed look. "Okay, what makes you think your house is 'haunted'?"
"Well, for the past two nights there has been a dreadful moaning that's been keeping me awake. I *yawn* haven't been able to find where it's coming from, but when it happens I get so scared I can't sleep."
"Well, does it usually happen at night?"
"Actually, it sometimes happens when I'm in my boutique. It also feels like somepony is watching me because when I go into the other room the moaning follows me there, and... But I'm *yawn*" Rarity brought a hoof to her mouth. "I'm boring you, aren't I?"
"Well, I believe you."
Rarity looked at Bryce in disbelief. "You do? You're just making fun of me, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I believe in ghosts."
"Now I never said it was-"
"If you want, I could come by tonight and see if there's anything I can do."
"There's no reason for you to-"
"Well, you could count it as paying you back."
Rarity took time to think about his proposal. If I let him do this, maybe he won't hound me about paying me back. But he might feel I'm taking advantage of him. But it would be nice to get a good night's sleep. "Alright, Bryce, if you think you can do anything about the matter then I'll allow you to do so. If you do this for me then I'll clear your debt."
Bryce held out his hand. "Deal." Rarity placed her hoof in his hand and they shook on it. "You're not trying to take advantage of me, are you?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Good, because I've had some bad experiences with so called 'friends' who were only after something I could do for them. Now, as soon as we get done with my clothes I'll let you get some sleep before we head to your house. My first issue is with the shorts."
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Later that evening, Ditzy had returned to pick up her daughter. With Dinky gone, both Bryce and Rarity were prepared to leave. The only thing holding them both up was Apple Bloom. "Sprout, I know you're worried, but I'll be fine."
Apple Bloom had tears in her eyes. "Do yuh really have ta help Miss Rarity tonight?"
"Sprout, I know you're worried about the storm, but it's going to be okay, I'll be back by morning. If you get scared you still have your brother and sister."
"But they're not you!"
Bryce sighed heavily. "Apple Bloom..." Bryce grabbed at the key chain arround his belt loop, removed one of the rings, and held it out to the young filly. "You see all these medallions?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Well whenever I have these they protect me from evil. As long as I have these nothing bad will ever get me." Bryce pulled one of the medallions off the key ring. "Here, this one is my Benedict. It's my best one. You can keep it until I get back, alright?"
Apple Bloom took the medallion in her hoof. "But won't yuh be needin it?"
"You'll need it more than I will. Just keep on praying to him and everything will turn out great." He bent down and gave Apple Bloom a peck on the forehead. "Now be good for your siblings. I'll be back in the morning." Bryce held his new clothes under his arm, so Rarity could hem them afterwards, and went out the door.
With that settled, Bryce and Rairty set off for Ponyville. Corn followed them close behind. After getting a few hours of much needed beauty rest, the fashionista felt better than she had upon her arrival.
As the small village came into view, Bryce stopped to take the it all in. "Hmm, thatched roofs, exposed timber frames, dirt roads?"
"What's the matter, darling, it this uncommon where you're from?"
"Yeah, but I'm just surprised you live here."
They both continued onwards. "What wrong with it?"
"Well, this place just seems so rustic and quaint for the likes of you. I would expect you to live in some kind of fancy place with cobblestone streets and houses with gilded bronze trims."
"I know it may seem a tad primitive for somepony like me, but this is the place I call home. I have been wanting to move to Canterlot since I started working as a fashion designer, but I don't really have much of a reputation for ponies of that social class... yet."
"Well, you have a point, I guess." Bryce took notice of a pegasus resting on a cloud. "Hey, is that... BLITZKRIEG!"
"WHAT? Oh, hey, Bryce!" Rainbow Dash flew down low enough to where she didn't have to shout and hovered in place. "What are you doing this far away from the farm?"
"Well, Rarity said her house was 'haunted'. I'm going to go check it out."
"What, Miss Gemstones-and-Lace's house is haunted?" Rainbow began to laugh.
Rarity shouted, "I never said it was haunted, all I said was-"
"Yeah, yeah, this I gotta see."
Rarity stomped her hoof once before saying, "Why is she so willing to join us?"
"We made a truce."
"Oh, I see. Now the best route to avoid any unnecessary attention would be-"
Bryce spoke up, "No need. Just stay in front of me and guide me to your house. Act like I'm not even here."
"Ooookay, follow me then."
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Rarity opened the door to Carousel Boutique, running in to get out of the storm that had began to pelt down. The inside was mostly dark. "Now, Bryce, pardon my Prench, but how the buck did you do that?"
Bryce walked in after Rarity. "How'd I do what?" Corn came in next and shook himself dry.
Rainbow Dash flew in bringing up the rear. "How'd you get through town without anypony noticing you? I mean..." Rainbow ran her forehooves up Bryce's length from bottom to top. "You're huge."
"I guess they just didn't know what to look for."
"Some of them looked right at you!"
"Look, we have more important to worry about. Now where did you-"
Everyone present jumped when something shoved the front doors open. A flash of lightening revealed a lone equine figure standing in the doorway. It slowly trotted in from the darkness and closed the door behind it, blackening the room. The figure soon flooded the boutique with a yellow glow from its horn. "Bryce, what are you doing in Pony...? Why's everypony so jumpy?"
From the dim light of Lyra's horn, she could see that Rarity had fainted and was sprawled out on the floor, Rainbow Dash had her tail sicking out from behind a curtain, and Corn was standing in place; the hair on the back of his neck raised, his gaze directed at the mint green unicorn. "What's... going on?"
Rainbow Dash was the first to come out. "Lyra, what the hay?"
Lyra nervously smiled. "I was just wondering what Bryce-"
Rarity slowly broke her trance. "Lyra, what did we tell you about Bryce?"
"I know, I was only wondering why he... Where'd he go anyway?"
Rarity got up and lit her horn. "What do you mean, he's right-" Throwing the light from her horn around the boutique, there was no sign of the human. "Bryce, where are you?"
From behind Lyra, Bryce shouted, "Rover here!" Lyra ran forward in fright to Rarity's side.
"Good, there you are. Now, Lyra, if you must know we're all here to-"
Rainbow piped in, "Rarity's house is haunted," prompting a death stare from the white unicorn. "What, that's what we're here for, right?"
"Ahem... As 'I' was saying, I have been hearing a dreadful moan coming from inside my house for the past two nights. Bryce here has offered to make sure everything is as it should be."
"*Pfft* Ghosts, that's what everypony's here for? There's no such thing as-"
From within the darkness there came a soul cringing noise. MRRROW Everyone went silent.
Both Lyra and Rarity turned their heads about, trying to find the source of that beastly noise.
"Rarity... wa, was that...?" Bryce managed to studder out.
Between her trembling, Rarity replied, "I... I'm afraid that is what I-"
MRRRROOOOOOOOOOW